Columnist image

TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

| Archive

TORONTO – There are miles to go, and many more wins to earn, before the Maple Leafs can be anointed the best team in hockey. But after a 6-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night, Toronto’s second win in as many nights and third straight, the Leafs sit atop the NHL standings.

It’s only been seven games, but a 6-1 record and sole possession of first place is a milestone nonetheless for a team that only 18 months ago finished dead last.

“It’s great to see. [But] it’s still October. We can’t get too ahead of ourselves here,” said Nazem Kadri.  “There are still a lot of good teams we have to play and it’s not going to be this loose for long.”

Giving the Leafs any room to set up offensively has cost their opponents so far this season, which the Red Wings (4-3) learned early and often on Wednesday at the Air Canada Centre. Not only did they score (Kadri) on their first shot on goal, the Leafs did it again on their second shot (Zach Hyman, 43 seconds later). They scored four goals on five shots in the first period. The last time Toronto scored four goals on five shots in the first period was April 13, 2013 against the Montreal Canadiens.

On the flip side, the Leafs were giving up more than they generating, getting outshot 11-4 in the first, but they had Curtis McElhinney to thank for keeping the Red Wings mostly at bay early on.

“I don’t think we were very happy with how we played in the first,” said Morgan Rielly. “They came out and controlled the majority of the play. But we have lots of guys who can put the puck in the net and when that happens early on, to get the feeling where you have a little bit of breathing room, it’s nice.”

For the third time in their first seven games, the Leafs chased a starting goaltender on account of their offensive prowess – Jimmy Howard left the net after giving up two goals on just three shots. But if one issue has plagued the Leafs throughout this young season it’s inconsistency and how they, too, can play too loose in the defensive zone. That trend caught up to them again when it was suddenly the Red Wings’ turn to score in bunches.

While playing 4-on-4, Tomas Tatar potted his own rebound on McElhinney and then Jonathan Ericsson ripped a shot past a screened McElhinney 94 seconds later to bring Detroit within one.

In the second period, which has been Toronto’s weakest all season, the Leafs went nearly 10 minutes without a shot on goal.

“We just got away from our game there in the second period,” said Auston Matthews, reiterating a refrain he’s used before about the Leafs’ middle frame. “They got us back on our heels but we got back to playing our type of game and playing simple and getting the puck in there and took over from there.”

The burgeoning maturity of the Leafs is what once again carried them through to another victory – that and a strong 30-save performance from McElhinney, who had 192 days off between starts. Toronto has now given up at least 30 shots in six of their first seven games, sitting sixth-worst in the league in that area (averaging 34.7 per game).

It hasn’t been perfect, but for now the Leafs offence is sustaining them until they can figure out the rest.   

“It feels great [to be in first place],” said McElhinney. “It’s still early but we’re scoring in bunches and that goes a long way early on. I think as the season progresses I’d like to see us tighten us a bit but that comes with experience and games here.”

Takeaways

Finishing strong

Wednesday’s game was the first Toronto has played on consecutive nights this season, a situation they struggled with last year. The Leafs opened the year 0-6 on the latter half of back-to-backs last season, and even though they didn’t start well structurally against Detroit, they didn’t let the game get away from them. Toronto has only 13 back-to-backs this year, compared to 18 last season, which helps almost as much as learning from their previous deficiencies playing on second nights. Across the board, the Leafs spoke of a different mindset heading into the game, knowing it would require weathering the Red Wings’ early push and being more opportunistic with what chances they did generate, both of which Toronto was able to accomplish. Their progress was a clear confidence boost for the team.

Matthews magic

Matthews was held off the scoresheet for the first time this season on Tuesday, but on Wednesday he was up to his old tricks again. Matthews exploited Howard’s short side with his wicked release on an impressive first period goal in which he used the Red Wings’ defender as screen. It was Matthews’ sixth goal in seven games; he also added an assist for his fourth multi-point effort of the season. In the second period, Matthews had stretches where he was the most dominating forward on the ice, moving through the Red Wings at will and showing off his 200-foot game that continues to become more complete. He finished with the second-best possession total on the team (50 per cent). His linemates, Hyman and William Nylander, each added a goal as well, a rare occasion where all three sophomores were firing offensively.

Meeting milestones

For just the 18th time in NHL history, a player skated in his 1,500th game on Wednesday. Patrick Marleau received a first-period video tribute from the Leafs to commemorate his accomplishment, but failed to tally any points. Still, head coach Mike Babcock said he thought Marleau’s line with Kadri and Leo Komarov’s was the Leafs’ best, and Marleau had the Leafs’ highest possession total (52.17 per cent). And he wasn’t the only one hitting a career milestone on Wednesday, either. Rielly recorded the 100th assist of his NHL career with a helper on Hyman’s first period score. It was Rielly’s third assist in two games. He also added a power play goal, his first marker of the season, to make Wednesday his second multi-point game in as many nights. Rielly now leads all blueliners with four power play points. 

Next game

Toronto will face the Senators in Ottawa on Saturday night.