PUTTING HIS FOOT DOWN
Yes, Leafs centre Auston Matthews is good at blocking shots too,
Coaches love it when players block shots. They love it even more when star players make that sacrifice with the game on the line, believing it will inspire more selflessness among the team. But when Auston Matthews blocked a slapshot with his left foot from about three feet in the dying seconds of Toronto’s 1-0 win over the Florida Panthers, Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock sounded as if he might like to add an asterisk to the whole shot-blocking mantra.
“You want to block shots, but I don’t think we want it going off his heel like it did,” Babcock said Wednesday after practice. “It’s one of those things. There’s a price to be paid to win. We all know that and understand that.”
Matthews showed no ill effects Wednesday, participating fully in a practice that was filled with light moments.
“It’s what you do,” Matthews said of his blocked shot. “They had a six-onfive, there’s not too much time left. Had to get in front of the shot to block it. I’m fine.”
Matthews is the Leafs’ most important skater, leading the team in goals and points. He also leads all Leafs forwards with 54 blocked shots. His growth from a rookie to a dominant force has been quick, with Babcock increasingly using him in game-deciding situations, such as protecting a one-goal lead late in the game.
“If you’re trying to get him to be a 200-foot player, you have to put him in the situations,” Babcock said. “He does enough good things, he’s big and strong enough to handle it. We’re trying with all our guys to get better in all those areas.
“Skill is a wonderful thing. But knowing where to stand in the defensive zone, and where to be without the puck, is a great thing too. That leads to winning. He’s getting better all the time.”
As for those light moments, both William Nylander and Leo Komarov started practice in Canadian jerseys from the Sochi Winter Olympics.
Komarov wore a white Canadian jersey because he had bet assistant coach Andrew Brewer on the outcome of the Canada-Finland game in men’s Olympic hockey. The Canadian men beat Finland to advance to the semifinals.
“It looked good on me, right?” Komarov said. “It was a bad game. Canada deserved to win.”
Nylander wore a red Canadian jersey from a bet with Babcock dating back to the world junior tournament, when Canada beat Sweden for gold.
“He had to supply the jersey,” Ny- lander said. “I was just waiting.”
Brewer supplied the autographfilled jerseys.
Babcock only recently paid a debt, with wine, to Matthews dating back to the U.S.’s gold-medal win over Canada at the 2017 world junior tournament.
“I was confused when I saw the jerseys,” Matthews said. “World juniors ended months ago. But I got my wine a year later. I guess when we do bets, we just take our time.”
The levity came with the Leafs riding high and the New York Islanders visiting Thursday night. Toronto has won 11 of its past 13 games, including seven in a row at the Air Canada Centre.
“I thought we were loose today in practice,” Babcock said. “Being loose is a sign of winning and feeling good. There’s nothing wrong with feeling good. (But) just because you’re loose doesn’t mean you can’t have intensity and work hard and prepare right. You should enjoy it. That’s part of being around a winning atmosphere. That’s what we’re trying to build around here.”
With 20 games to go and a 21-point lead on Florida, the fourth-place team in the Atlantic, it appears the Leafs have a playoff spot comfortably wrapped up. They were touch-andgo down the stretch last year and didn’t clinch until the second-last game.
Now they’re increasingly facing teams who are in a dogfight for the playoffs. Florida was one of those teams on Tuesday. The Islanders, a point out of the last playoff spot in the East, are another.
“They’re a hungry team. They have a lot on the line, but that’s important,” said Babcock, who believes daily challenges make his team better. “For where we want to go, we want to have a long journey. Everybody says that. But it’s only long for two teams. We have to improve our club a lot if we’re going to have a chance in the spring.”