Leafs get big body of work in loss to Florida
The Maple Leafs had a certain, big-bodied rookie in mind when it came to filling in the hole at centre on the top line left by the freshly suspended Nazem Kadri.
Enter Frederik Gauthier, all six-footfive and 220 pounds of him.
Gauthier’s sizable frame has long prompted positive reactions from Leafs coach Mike Babcock who, like everyone else inside the dressing room, refers to Gauthier as “the Goat.” And when you have size, youth and a cool nickname, you’ll get the opportunity to impress.
So, as the Leafs were losing to the feelgood Florida Panthers 4-3 Monday evening, Gauthier was making a decent impression in what was his fourth game of the season and first as a front-line centre.
The 20-year-old native of Laval, Que., took the kind of ice time Kadri would normally get, playing against Florida’s top line of Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and the ageless Jaromir Jagr.
And in recognition of Gauthier’s twoway style of play, Babcock had him on the penalty-killing unit, which got a workout Monday night with the Leafs taking five minors overall, including three consecutive penalties in the second period.
While the Leafs were losing for the third straight game, and for the fifth time in their last six games, Gauthier did a notable job against the high-octane Panthers line that had combined for seven points against Montreal Saturday.
That line was blanked on the power play and didn’t click until Barkov fired his 27th goal to put the Panthers up 4-2.
Barkov’s goal came just 46 seconds after T.J. Brennan scored his first goal as a Leaf, and his first NHL goal since 2013 when he was with the Panthers.
“It was a huge factor for us tonight,” Babcock said about the suspended Kadri, who will miss the remainder of the season for a cross-check on Detroit’s Luke Glendening.
“I thought the Goat did real good for us . . . but Nazem plays against those people for us, so obviously we miss him.”
Colin Greening was an offensive hero for the Leafs, scoring twice and working himself into the so-called “dirty” area around the crease both times to bang in loose pucks.
Greening reached the 100-point plateau in his career with those goals, and afterward felt lucky and blessed. He fell out of favour in Ottawa last year and was shipped to the AHL, spending the final12 games there last season and the first 41 of this season before a trade to the Leafs.
“No . . . not really, I wasn’t thinking 100,” Greening said. “For me, the kind of journey I’ve taken over the past two seasons, not knowing if I’d get another shot (in the NHL) . . . I guess this is pretty good. I know my parents back home in Newfoundland will be happy.”
Florida’s Rocco Grimaldi, fresh up from the AHL to replace the injured Vincent Trochek, had a pair of nifty goals — on a wicked snap shot and on a nice one-timer — in a span of two minutes and 39 seconds in the second to stake the Panthers to a 3-0 lead.
Florida survived some wide-open hockey in the third to record their 45th win, setting a new franchise mark. The Panthers have already clinched a post-season berth after having missed the playoffs in13 of the past 14 seasons.
Gauthier took all the defensivezone faceoffs during the Leafs’ penalty kills and came out of that pressure-packed second period with three faceoff wins and 11 losses. It wasn’t a flattering line for Gauthier, but the Panthers did not score on any of the three power plays they had in the period. They were 0-for-5 overall on the power play, and Gauthier was on the ice for only one of Florida’s goals.
“Mike came in and told our line that we’d be facing Barkov’s line,” Gauthier said. “It was a good challenge. We stepped up as a team in the third too and came back from down three goals, so that was a positive.”