Matthews eases into Leafs duty
Last five first-round picks in lineup for exhibition win . . . but Babcock’s seen better
Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander —the most-hyped Maple Leafs trio in many years — took to the ice together for the first time Sunday night at the Air Canada Centre in a 3-2 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens.
For Matthews, a huge part of the future of the franchise, it was his first game action in a Leafs jersey. “It was good,” said the first overall pick in the June draft. “For a pre-season game, the fans came out and supported the team. They were pretty loud out there, especially in overtime.”
Matthews said he wasn’t nervous, after his World Cup duty on the same ice proved he belongs with NHL talent.
“It’s hockey. You have to go out there and perform,” said Matthews. “If you’re afraid of making a mistake, you’re going to make a mistake.”
Just about the only person who didn’t like what he saw from the Leafs was coach Mike Babcock.
“We won. There was lots of skill. We turned the puck over just for fun, played on the outside way too much,” said Babcock.
“We have to get a lot better. We had the puck a lot, didn’t score.”
When it was pointed out that offence from defence is a continuing theme — blue-liners Nikita Zaitsev, Morgan Rielly and overtime hero Matt Hunwick got the goals — Babcock continued to list complaints.
“If the forwards won’t shoot it, it’s going to be hard for them to score,” he said. “They tried passing it into the net tonight. What I saw tonight is, we had a different skill set than we had last year. We don’t know how to play yet. We were perimeter, and light, and didn’t want to attack the net.
“We liked having the puck. We thought they were handing out points for stickhandling instead of shooting and getting on the inside and scoring goals.”
That’s a fine how-do-you-do for a lineup that is expected to form the core for the future.
“He’s very demanding, very structural,” Matthews said of Babcock. “I think that’s good. He obviously knows what he’s doing. His resume speaks for itself.”
Throw in Frederik Gauthier and the already-established Rielly and the Leafs played their last five firstround picks.
Add Zaitsev, the heralded Russian free-agent defenceman who made a name for himself at the World Cup, and it was a lineup that offers a great deal of hope.
“We have way more skill,” said Babcock. “Skating, shooting, hockey sense. They’ll figure it out.”
Marner and Nylander have already played exhibition games, but Matthews had been held back after his time at the World Cup.
Given the Leafs’ top pick in 2016 (Matthews), fourth pick in 2015 (Marner) and eighth pick in 2014 (Nylander) were playing together for the first time — with Matthews and Nylander on the same line — it was perhaps the most anticipated preseason game at the Air Canada Centre in years.
Matthews played18 minutes and 23 seconds, second to Tyler Bozak among forwards. He took two shots and registered one hit but won only one of six faceoffs.
The Leafs — 2-1-1 in the pre-season — dressed as close to an NHL lineup as you’ll see at the halfway point of the exhibition schedule. The Habs came with a much lesser lineup.
The crowd was quiet for most of the night. Attendance was announced at 18,912, but clearly many had better things to do with their Sunday night.
Excitement built when Montreal’s Daniel Carr tied the game with 18 seconds left in the third, after the Leafs killed a five-on-three with Montreal’s net empty. There were no whistles during the whirlwind threeon-three overtime, which ended when James van Riemsdyk set up Hunwick with 40 seconds to go.
“It took us a period to get going, but we got the outcome we wanted,” said Matthews.