Leafs sizzle, Bolts fizzle
The raw emotion of an ear-to-ear openmouthed smile as he embraced a teammate said it all for Connor Carrick.
He’d scored his first goal as a Maple Leaf — his first in nearly 21⁄ years — and it felt
2 good.
“It came from deep within,” Carrick said of that smile. “I was really excited to get the goal. We were humming around their end, and you want to make those count. I get pretty excited when any of my teammates score. Scoring a goal is hard in this league. To be able to contribute myself, it felt really good.”
Carrick’s first goal as a Leaf was one of many firsts that lifted Toronto to a shocking 4-1win Tuesday night over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Ben Smith, acquired in the James Reimer trade, got his first goal as well as his first assist as a Maple Leaf.
Milan Michalek, acquired in the Dion Phaneuf trade, got his first point as a Leaf, an assist, as the Leafs beat Tampa for the first time this season (1-2-1). The result — a well-played effort underlined by anoth-
The Leafs are starting to believe in themselves and are starting to make life difficult for playoff teams
er solid performance by Jonathan Bernier in net — suggested perhaps the Leafs have turned a corner. Not so fast, says coach Mike Babcock. “One of the things you’ve got to be real careful of when you go through the history of the league,” said Babcock. “There’s always teams at the end of the year when they’re out, they get on a roll and you think you’ve got your roster set.
“But good teams play competitive games and they play them all year long and they win when it matters. That’s what we’re trying to become.”
That said, Babcock wasn’t trying to take anything away from the heroes of the evening, mostly newcomers, but he did have a warning.
“It’s called the test of time. Everybody has a good week or two. Can you keep doing it every night? Can you do it defensively, can you do it offensively? You watch them every day. You can’t hide. Pretty soon who you are comes out.”
Carrick, acquired from Washington in the multi-player deal for Daniel Winnik, said he’s struggled as a pro to find his offensive game. That’s what made him a standout in junior. But he hasn’t had success at scoring during his cups of coffee in the NHL.
“I want him to be able to earn some minutes and get on the ice,” Babcock said of Carrick. “The way you do that first is to make sure it doesn’t go in your net. Then, if you’ve got some offensive flare, that’s going to show when you’re on the offensive blue line. Tonight was the first time we saw his shot. He’s got a good shot. We haven’t seen that in the game.”
Babcock was kinder to three other first-year Leafs: Smith, Zach Hyman and Martin Marincin.
The penalty kill, for example, hasn’t allowed a goal in six games, thanks largely to their work.
Smith got the winner, and assisted on Hyman’s empty netter. When the media surrounded him post-game, he said he thought the game was his worst as a Leaf despite his two points.
He apologized for being the goat on Brian Boyle’s third period goal that briefly tied the game.
“For one to finally get in the net felt good, but it probably was one of my worst games as a Leaf,” said Smith. “It’s funny how that happens. There were a lot of things I could have done better.”
Emerging as an important player is Marincin, who looked like an afterthought most of the season.
“Marty (Marincin) was here a long time, we didn’t even know he could skate good,” said Babcock. “Suddenly, Marty skates real good. He’s a good penalty killer, good defender.
“It’s called confidence.”