ONE, TWO, THREE TIMES FOR KADRI
Centre gives Leafs a Florida split with hat trick aganst Panthers,
SUNRISE, FLA.— Who will the Maple Leafs be when they’re done becoming?
Already they bear scant resemblance to the team they were back on opening might last October, or the team they were on Valentine’s Day.
A visionary, or fabulist, might look at this spitballed roster and see a smattering of potential, though GM Lou Lamoriello has already said the roster could be turned over a further 50 per cent by the time training camp rolls around, the other side of summer. The kidlets aren’t going anywhere, of course, following their dress rehearsal for permanent jobs.
Lamoriello was along for the ride as the club pinballed across Florida, witnessing a team here on Tuesday that didn’t remotely resemble a bottom-of-the-dregs outfit, though obviously their 5-2 dispatch of the Panthers, framed around a Nazem Kadri hat trick, doesn’t amount to a hill o’ beans beyond spoiler satisfaction against a team trying to nail down first overall in the Atlantic Division.
“Sometimes you have these nights where the puck just finds you,” the often flummoxed Kadri marvelled afterwards. “Tonight was one of those nights.’’
The last time he had one of those nights — a hat trick — was precisely two years and one day earlier. “Doesn’t happen too often,” he acknowledged with a grin. “Great plays by my teammates to set me up.”
Props to Michael Grabner, who made an unselfish drop pass on Kadri’s third with an untended net staring both of them in the face.
And a further fist-bump to Grabner who, after shooting two feet wide on a first-period breakaway managed to penetrate the offensive zone on another turnover a few heartbeats later, snapping Connor Brown’s nifty pass past Roberto Luongo’s blocker. It was only the second short-handed goal of the season for Toronto and gave the Leafs a 1-0 lead against a goalie who owns them: Luongo was 20-7 in his career against the Leafs entering last night’s encounter at the halfempty BB&T Center.
After Jonathan Huberdeau tied it early in the second, Kadri restored the lead on a power play, reaching around for a huge popping rebound surrendered by Luongo. It was Kadri’s 15th goal of the season but merely his third with the man advantage. Toronto has been woeful on special teams.
Startlingly, the power-play unit struck again, the same combo, Kadri demonstrating patience and savvy, corralling a putt-pass from Brown, shifting a few feet in the slot, reversing the puck onto his backhand and into the back of the net. A thinking man’s goal.
And, goodness, a third power-play marker came in the final period, a snap shot under the crossbar by P-A Parenteau — his 100th career goal, beautifully arranged by Jake Gardiner.
A loose puck in front of the net pounced upon by former Leafs prospect Gregg McKegg — his NHL first — drew the Panthers closer but no nearer than that. Kadri wrapped up the evening with his emptynetter.
It was sweetly special for Brown as well, with his parents in the crowd to savour their son’s first three-assist NHL performance. “One of those games where the puck seems to be following you,” he said, echoing Kadri.
A mid-March smidge of wins has been deeply satisfying to the players, if alarming to some harpies more worried about Toronto jeopardizing its best-odds of seizing Auston Matthews in the entry draft. It should be noted the Maples have seen a steady diet of top-tier opposition and teams straining to improve playoff positioning.
Even the most begrudging must grant that the Leafs are a hardworking and energetic outfit. And, as consecutive scrums to end recent games at home and away have suggested, a bit on the belligerent side. Not like the late Pat Quinn’s notoriously grumble-and-whinge teams, which were hurt (among officials) by their chippy reputation. But they’ve got some pushback, these Leafs; a little lead in their pencils.
“We’re not laying down, we’re in the games right to the end,” said Morgan Rielly, who’s been carrying an awful lot of the workhorse load, now deployed on both the (so-so) penalty kill and the (dreadful) pow- er play. “We’re playing hard. We’re playing with a lot of pride.”
“The one thing I will say that’s really positive is that everyone’s looking out for one another,” observed Colin Greening.
“We play these games like we are in the playoffs,” said forward Brooks Laich. “Play teams contending for first overall in their division, you still manufacture and facilitate that mindset because you want to be in those games.”
There’s a certain suspension of disbelief required in pretending the games matter. Yet it’s also true that the psychological pith of the Leafs, the squad they are aiming to become, is being set in the here and now, with half a dozen games left.
Laich framed the embryonic Leaf squad thusly: “Players that work together, genuinely care about each other on and off the ice, fight for every single inch on the ice and are relentless, relentless, relentless . . .
“That sort of foundation is a great foundation leading into next year.”
Fighting for every inch and sometimes, like last night, skating off with the spoils.
“As a team, if you can build your identity like that, I think you’re off to the races.”