Leafs in control at home of Marlies
The Toronto Maple Leafs came up with their best game so far in the preseason Friday night, and they picked a fan-friendly occasion in the process. Playing their first-ever game at Ricoh Coliseum, the Leafs dominated the visiting Buffalo Sabres in a 3-0 win before a packed house. The fans certainly enjoyed what was a sound overall performance by the Leafs, who won for the first time in three pre-season games and out shot Buffalo — which played without star Jack Eichel — 3518. The teams meet again Saturday night in Buffalo. Here are some things we learned from the win:
The power play featured star forwards Auston Matthews and Patrick Marleau together for the first time as part of the five-man unit. The results were mixed. They certainly looked sharp setting up and passing out of the Leafs’ zone, and in the opposition end. But that unit managed just one goal despite 15 shots on nine opportunities. Morgan Rielly had the goal, from a sharp angle without any traffic in front of the net. The other members of the top unit were William Nylander and Leo Komarov. “We have Matthews and Nylander and (Nazem) Kadri down the middle. We have good guys who know what they’re doing. The puck just isn’t going in yet,” said Komarov, who scored one of Toronto’s two emptynetters, Nylander with the other.
Leafs backup goalie Curtis McElhinney started and faced 14 shots over two periods of play. He wasn’t exactly busy, but was sharp when he had to be. The shutout atoned for his first game, when he gave up four goals on 12 shots in a 6-2 loss to Ottawa. “For me, it was stopping some shots early and getting a good feeling . . . obviously, my last game wasn’t what I was looking for,” McElhinney said. Garret Sparks took over for the third period, stopping all four shots he faced.
Komarov had a lengthy chat after the first period with referees Frederick L’Ecuyer and Gord Dwyer regarding his helmet visor. The popular Leafs winger is normally seen wearing the visor high up, out of his sightline. The referees wanted him to wear it lower for protection, and Komarov did for the rest of the night after removing the visor for a game early this week.
Leafs rookie defenceman Andreas Borgman turned in a monster hit in the second period, which drew a rousing hand. Borgman is part of a brigade of rookie defencemen — along with Travis Dermott, Andrew Nielsen and Calle Rosen — vying for the sixth and seventh slots on the blue line. All four have earned long looks in a battle that will likely go right down to the end of camp. Rosen could have an inside track at age 23 after three seasons Sweden’s top league. Dermott, though, deserves a shot. There’s a school of thought that if he makes the Leafs roster, it should only be as part of the top six, so he can play regularly.