Marleau answers the call as centre
Veteran winger scores goal after being added to top line to replace injured Matthews
When it came to looking around the Maple Leafs dressing room to see who might fill the void, Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock turned to his trusted veteran, Patrick Marleau.
The Maple Leafs signed Marleau to be a winger, but with Matthews missing his first game due to an undisclosed upper body injury — widely believed to be a back injury — the speedy 38-year-old was inserted on the top line with Zach Hyman and Connor Brown.
Marleau and Brown both scored, and the Leafs skated off with a 4-2 win over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night.
One second-period shift in particular stood out. Marleau came from behind to beat two Minnesota defenders to prevent an icing, retreated on a solid backcheck, then joined the rush to finish off a play with the 514th goal of his career after Hyman gained the zone
“It’s a good example to all of us,” Babcock said. “A good example for all of us. You’re 38 years old and you can work that hard and do things right. I don’t want him to play in the middle a lot. You play in the middle, it’s a lot of work (skating) 200 feet all the time. “Right now we need him and I thought he stepped up real good.”
Hyman, who has played with Matthews for most of his young career, was duly impressed with Marleau.
“He’s not really old, he’s got a lot of energy,” Hyman said. “A guy that scored over 500 goals beating out an icing shows you what a pro should do and how you should play.
“Any time you get a chance to play with a player with that much experience, you learn a lot of things. Patty’s great, whether he plays centre or wing.”
Though it was the Leafs’ second win in a row, it won’t do much to allay concerns about their style of play. They’ve beaten two tired Western Conference road teams in the midst of long trips east. This win wasn’t pretty. There were plenty of turnovers and plenty of mistakes.
Minnesota held the better of the play, and Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen was full value for his saves.
Morgan Rielly set up the first goal by Nazem Kadri, a terrific shot that bounced off the backboards. Marleau scored the second goal. Connor Carrick also scored for the Leafs.
It made Rielly seem almost like a prophet with is pre-game prediction. “We’ll deal with it,” Rielly said of missing Matthews. “We have guys who can jump in and play. Our depth is a proud point for this team.”
Carrick scored what turned out to be the winner, but only because he took a careless penalty toward the end of the third period. Jason Zucker got his second of the game on the power play as the Wild gained some life and led to a crazy finish. Brown’s empty netter secured the win.
Carrick was upset with himself for his needless roughing penalty and the power-play goal that took the potential winning goal away from Marleau.
“I liked the way I was playing, but (that was) a horrible penalty I took. I owe an apology,” Carrick said. “Horrible decision.”
Minnesota’s rally backed up what Babcock had said before the game.
“One second you have breathing room, then you take your foot off the gas and the next thing you know you don’t have any breathing room,” Babcock said. “That’s how I think it’s going to be for teams like us right to the end. I think each and every year right now, that’s how the league is set up and it’s exciting for fans, not as exciting for the coach. I’d like to know we’re in the playoffs about Game 20, but it’s not like that.”
The Leafs are certainly in OK shape, now 10-7-0. And when Andersen is on, they have a chance to outscore their mistakes.