Leafs win one for Tavares
Determined performance without fallen captain ties first-round series
With one key man down, the rest of the Maple Leafs picked it up.
Auston Matthews had a goal and two assists as the Leafs got goals from young and old and skated off with a 5-1 over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, proving they can win without captain John Tavares.
“The win means a lot,” said Matthews. “Not only for the guys in the locker room, but for John himself. He’s such a big part of this team and he’s our leader. Obviously, when something really scary and serious goes down like it did the other night, I think the response from the group was unbelievable. The guys that came in and stepped up, stepped up big. It was obviously a big win to even up the series.”
Rasmus Sandin, the youngest Leaf at 21, and Jason Spezza, the second oldest at 37, also scored. Sandin and William Nylander each scored on the power play — a rarity lately. Alex Kerfoot added an empty-netter.
“We care deeply about Johnny and we want to do well for him, so we’re going to try to win as many games as we can so we can get him back in the lineup,” said Spezza.
Winning is something they’ll have to do more of to go deep in the playoffs and hopefully get Tavares back. He’s out indefinitely. But Saturday’s performance was an indication that they can rise to this occasion.
It was as dominating a performance as the Leafs have delivered this season, playing the way they had in winning the North Division: mostly in the other end while keeping Montreal shooters at bay.
Coach Sheldon Keefe credited Tavares, who called and texted encouragement to his teammates prior to the game, with a big assist.
“I think that really helped our team push past it,” said Keefe. “We miss him greatly on the ice. We miss him greatly in the room. I don’t like the fact that he wasn’t able to be with us in the building, but the guys just refocused and played.
“You’re winning for him, you’re winning for all the guys who don’t get the play, you’re winning for the guy next to you in the room, and the guy on the bench. There’s all sorts of reasons to compete to win.” á Chasing history: It could be said the Leafs are facing ghosts. Can they win a playoff round? Can they even beat the Montreal Canadiens in one playoff game?
The answers trended in Toronto’s direction Saturday night. It was the first time the they had beaten Montreal in a playoff game since May 2, 1967. That was a 3-1win at Maple Leaf Gardens. Captain George Armstrong hoisted the Stanley Cup that night, for the 13th and — so far — final time in Toronto’s NHL history. The Leafs have only met Montreal in the playoffs twice since, but were swept in four games both times in1978 and 1979.
The win tied their openinground series at a game apiece. Games 3 and 4 will be in Montreal on Monday and Tuesday. á Power surge: Sandin and Nylander each scored on a powerplay unit that was busy, with Montreal taking eight penalties, including four in a row in the fateful second period. It was the first time the Leafs’ beleaguered power play had scored twice since March 3.
“Obviously I was really pleased to see us get rewarded. Those guys need that. They deserved it,” said Keefe. “They were giving us all sorts of life, even when it wasn’t going in. You could just sense the energy on the bench growing. That’s what you really want. You want to be building positive momentum. You want to be wearing down the opponent, and the power play did that and eventually it broke free.”
For Sandin, it was his first NHL playoff goal, but not without a little drama, with Montreal using a coach’s challenge to claim goaltender interference. Joe Thornton’s stick hit Carey Price’s pad with the puck on its way. The referees let the goal stand.
“I didn’t know what the challenge was, to be honest,” said Sandin. “I was just hoping for them to call it a goal. I was a little nervous, to be honest, because we were just talking about (how) I haven’t scored in a year and a half or something like that. I really wanted that to be a goal and I was super happy when they called it.” á Ins and outs: With Tavares out, Nick Foligno moved to centre on the second line with Nylander on the right side, and Alex Galchenyuk was activated off the taxi squad. Pierre Engvall also came in to replace Riley Nash.