BABCOCK STILL TINKERING WITH LEAFS’ LINEUP
Coach continues to assess role players after second consecutive one-goal loss
Jason Spezza catches on quick.
Just four games into the Maple Leafs season — the new winger has played in only two contests — he noted the offensive strengths of the team need to be augmented by strong work away from the puck. Toronto lost a heavyweight tilt to the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues, 3-2, on Monday night, the club’s second straight one-goal loss after two comfortable wins during a four-games-in-sixnights mash-up.
“When it got away from us, maybe we didn’t get pucks deep enough as we needed to,” Spezza said. “But for the most part, we hung with them all night. There were times when we really controlled play out there and if we can bottle that, we’ll become a better team.
“They’re the champs, they play a very disciplined game. I thought we did, too, for the most part.”
Coach Mike Babcock is still in assessment mode and in a conference call with reporters during Tuesday’s day off, he didn’t elaborate on his Monday night musing that his rotation system of flipping three men per game might be ending with more regular starting lineup choices. The Leafs next play Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“I’ve liked three of four games, didn’t like (the 6-5 shootout loss to Montreal with the blown three-goal lead),” Babcock said. “Both teams had too many Grade A chances in the Montreal game. But it was probably exciting for the fans.”
“I thought we had no energy (Saturday) and the scoring chances were so low (Monday). I didn’t think we had a whole bunch of breakdowns.”
The fourth line, with Nic Petan and Spezza setting up a Frederik Gauthier goal to get the Leafs on the board, drew praise from Babcock. So it will be interesting to see if Wednesday’s practice lines feature Nick Shore and Dmytro Timashov in place of Petan and Spezza or Martin Marincin for Justin Holl on defence.
“We had our moments (against the Blues). That’s what we have to build on,” said goalie Frederik Andersen. “Obviously we have to clean up some parts of our game, too.”
AUDITIONS DELAYED
The Marlies play only once between Oct. 5 and 11, which isn’t much time to assess who the early farm favourites are to get a look with the Leafs. Babcock said earlier the Marlies would factor in his rotation discussion.
They beat Belleville 4-1 in Saturday’s season opener with Egor Korshkov getting the opening goal and assist. Unfortunately, forward Kenny Agostino hasn’t practised with them since taking an elbow to the jaw. Belleville’s Hubert Labrie was suspended two games by the AHL on Tuesday for that hit.
“That (light Marlie schedule) affects (scouting), but we’re still in the process here,” Babcock said. “We’ve not got to a point of call-ups.”
SANDMAN STILL STANDING
Each time Babcock and a few other Leafs get in a public forum, they can’t seem to avoid mentioning rookie defenceman Rasmus Sandin’s rapid development.
“Every game is an opportunity for him and his best game was (Monday) when he played (15:20) minutes and was most comfortable. Each team he plays is going to expose different things, but it’s good for the learning process, good for your team in general, never mind a young guy in the back end,” said Babcock.
“The biggest thing for him is the time you used to have (in Sandin’s one junior year with the Sault Greyhounds) you don’t have now. You have to figure out what you used to do at a much higher speed. The people you’re boxing out are twice as big as you’ve ever seen, the guys forechecking are quicker, space is smaller.
“He’ll get quicker. For example, he (had) a great chance to get the puck to the net for a scoring chance, waited two seconds, and it’s dead in the corner. Same thing on the breakout. But what I like about him is that, when he makes a mistake, it doesn’t seem to affect his next shift. His hockey sense isn’t going away. His edges aren’t going away. The more he plays, the more he sees, he’ll be evaluating his shifts and have an understanding of himself.”
RUSSIAN EVOLUTION
Winger Ilya Mikheyev spent almost three minutes on the penalty kill Monday, a skill the Leafs noted during their extensive scouting of him in the KHL. The Blues were zero for three on the man advantage.
“We’ve watched so much tape on him. He felt and we felt that was (a strong) area of his game,” Babcock said. “He seems to come to life in it. I don’t know if that’s where he feels the most comfortable, but he’s obviously going to be an elite penalty killer with his speed and hockey sense.”
LOOSE LEAFS
Injuries to wingers have pushed San Jose to sign 40-yearold Patrick Marleau to a reported one-year, $700,000 contract ... Betonline posted odds Tuesday for the first NHL coach to be fired or resign and the Dallas Stars’ winless Jim Montgomery is at the front of the line at 4/1. Bunched behind him are
San Jose’s Peter Deboer (5/1), Arizona’s Rick Tocchet (6/1) Minnesota’s Bruce Boudreau (7/1), followed by New Jersey’s John Hynes and Winnipeg’s Paul Maurice 9/1 and Columbus’ John Tortorella, Babcock and Vancouver’s Travis Green 10/1 ... While they had played the most games in the league before Tuesday night, Toronto’s 41 take-aways led the NHL. Eleven of those were on Monday against the Blues ... Spezza finally played his first Toronto hometown game on Monday. “A huge honour to play here. Nice to play in front of the home crowd, something I’ve been looking forward to all summer.”