Leafs ignore the Rielly math
Babcock looks past minuses to come to blueliner’s defence
Startling stat of the moment: In 17 games since Morgan Rielly suffered a high ankle sprain early last month, the Maple Leafs defenceman was a minus-18 heading into Thursday’s game against the Flyers.
That was a dismal figure, the worst in the NHL over the span. Second-worst in the league? That’d be Rielly’s frequent blue-line partner Nikita Zaitsev at minus-12.
Now, plus-minus is nobody’s idea of a be-all, end-all number. But in this case it worked as an awfully stark illustration of Toronto’s defensive vulnerability as they entered the final month of the regular season. Rielly and Zaitsev are nothing less than Toronto’s top defensive pairing. And even with them on the ice these past five weeks, the Leafs have been digging the puck out of their net with shocking regularity. Heading into Thursday, only three NHL teams had given up more goals against over that period. For all Toronto’s offensive firepower and their Calder-eligible cadre of prodigies, anyone paying attention understands precisely why no lead is safe in Leafland.
So count Thursday’s 4-2 win as a respite from a not-so-pleasant grind for both Rielly and his team. Rielly hadn’t finished a game in the plus column in more than three weeks. His plus-one — wherein Rielly found himself on the ice for three of Toronto’s four goals and picked up an assist on the Mitch Marner marker that turned out to be the winner — was welcome stuff. Another stellar effort from Frederik Andersen, who stopped 36 of 38 shots, certainly helped.
“I don’t think I’ve played my best as of late, but it’s tough. There’s nights you might feel great, you play great, but the other guys get the bounces,” Rielly said after it was over. “So it’s just a matter of being mentally strong.”
That doesn’t promise to be easy, not for the Leafs or their fans, as the push for the playoffs continues. Combine Toronto’s inexperience with their lack of backend depth, and they’re a perpetual adventure in game mismanagement. Thursday, wherein a 3-1 third-period lead turned into a 3-2 nail-biter with 2:28 to go after Philadelphia’s Shayne Gostisbehere scored with the goalie pulled, was a case in point, even if the Leafs prevailed.
But let’s face it: It’s all been made much worse by Rielly operating at less than 100 per cent. Rielly has mostly insisted his ankle is “fine.”
But on Thursday he acknowledged the challenge he’s been facing in the five weeks since his right leg bent back awkwardly in a home game against the Sabres. “Just managing it. Just trying to get back to where you were before you had the injury. It’s tough,” Rielly said.
You can see it in the basic, not-so-advanced numbers. In the 42 games leading up to the injury, Rielly was a modest minus-5. Since then — well, he’s been minus many more.
All the talk about Rielly’s struggles spurred Leafs head coach Mike Babcock to leap to Rielly’s defence in his post-morning-skate press conference.
“Well, you know, it’s an interesting thing, there was a guy that used to be here named Dion Phaneuf that took all the flak for everybody and when you trade that guy then someone else gets the flak, especially when it doesn’t go good for you,” Babcock said. “So, Ries just has to quit thinking and worrying about what anyone else says. He understands that the manager and the coach think he’s great and his mom and dad think he’s great. I’d spend less time worrying about what anyone else gives you feedback on and just play.”
If the sentiment was correct — standing up for Rielly only makes sense, because he’s hobbled and because Thursday was also his 23rd birthday — the analogy didn’t exactly hold water. Rielly has maybe one thing in common with Phaneuf; both had the misfortune of having the expectations around him inflated by Brian Burke’s bluster.
But it’s been almost five years since the Maple Leafs took Rielly fifth overall in the NHL draft, when Burke, in the type of needless boasting that defined his tenure, insisted the Leafs would have taken Rielly first overall if they’d had the pick. Phaneuf was cursed much worse. Miscast by Burke as captain and overpaid as a No. 1 defenceman who could never deliver on a seven-year, $49 million contract, Phaneuf felt the fans’ enduring spite.
There’s no such animus being directed Rielly’s way. Burke’s teams were bad enough that Rielly always stood out as a rare bright spot. And nobody in town thinks the Leafs made anything but an astute move in signing Rielly last spring to a six-year deal worth an annual average of about $5 million. So exactly why Babcock was trying to equate his injury-induced slump with Phaneuf’s 423 games as one of the franchise’s least effective captains — well, next time Babcock accuses the unwashed of turning a molehill into a mountain, we can all have a laugh.
Nobody in the dressing room, mind you, is seeing any humour in the precariousness of their defen- sive game.
“We’ve just got to think about defence more, and not about points, not about personal things,” Zaitsev said. “We’ve got to think about our team . . . because nothing can be better than the playoffs. For the players, for the city, for the fans, for everybody — the playoffs is the number one thing. Nobody will remember your points. Everybody will remember how you were in the playoffs. This is my point of view.”
How can that not be everybody’s point of view? That Zaitsev was suggesting some Leafs don’t see it the same way tells you that the plus-minus woes of the top defensive pairing isn’t the only shortcoming to be concerned about.