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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO – It’s fitting, perhaps, that exactly one week after Jake Muzzin was traded to Toronto from Los Angeles, the defenceman had his blue-and-white coming out party in Monday’s 6-1 win over the Kings’ biggest rival, the Anaheim Ducks.

And there was no love lost between Muzzin and the Ducks, especially not when he plastered Corey Perry into the boards late in the second period, drew a retaliatory cross-checking penalty on Nick Ritchie, and then scored his first goal as a Leaf seconds later on the power play.

It was one of three points Muzzin would register in the game, tying his career-high and continuing the 29-year-old’s seamless transition onto the Leafs’ backend.

“[This is a] good team. Good coaching. Good plan, and it’s easy to follow,” Muzzin said of what’s helped him get acclimated so far. “They’re very clear in how we’re supposed to play, and that’s how we’re playing. And especially with [Morgan Rielly], having a good partner, it helps out as well.”

Muzzin said the hit on Perry was nothing out of the ordinary (“I was just trying to close and force the play before the blueline”) but not since before Dion Phaneuf was traded to the Ottawa Senators in 2016 have the Leafs had a hard-hitting defenceman like Muzzin in their top-four.

That could serve to explain Muzzin’s polite bemusement over the stir each of his hits seems to draw. But his new teammates can understand why, when Muzzin throws his 6-foot-3 frame around on the ice, it gets everyone’s attention.

“It’s huge, you have a couple of big hits in the beginning and that’s going to create space for the skill guys,” said Andreas Johnsson, who tallied two goals and two assists for Toronto in the victory. “I think that was a part we didn’t really have before, and he’s been doing a great job coming here so far.”

“He’s been amazing, playing the body, too, and scoring goals; it’s lots of fun having him here,” added William Nylander, who added a goal and an assist on Monday. “[The hits] gets us going and brings energy into the group.”

Johnsson benefited directly from other new elements Muzzin has brought to the Leafs, too, namely his booming slapshot. John Tavares had already made it 1-0 early in the second period, when Muzzin sent a hard point blast right on Ducks goalie John Gibson, creating a wild rebound Johnsson corralled and put top-shelf off his backhand.

It didn’t count as a power play goal – coming just after the holding penalty on Hampus Lindholm expired – but it came with Toronto’s second power play unit still on the ice, and gave a glimpse of what they might be capable of the rest of this season with Muzzin on board.

“I thought his shot was important on that,” said Leafs coach Mike Babcock. “The way teams have played against us on the power play; they’re basically playing down low and not respecting the top, so we have to do a better job of that. [Jake’s] a big body, he knows how to play.”

Muzzin’s own goal six minutes later did come on the power play, putting the Leafs up 3-0. It was just the seventh man-advantage goal Toronto has scored since Dec. 10, putting them at a bleak 7-for-55 in that stretch but presenting hope they could see improvement there.

After Rickard Rakell scored Anaheim’s lone goal in the third, Muzzin added another assist on Connor Brown’s goal, before Nylander and Johnsson rounded out the scoring.

After so many past battles with the Ducks in his career, regular season and playoffs, Muzzin made sure to check on Perry after their collision and ensure he was all right. That one play and the reaction it encouraged only served to highlight how much Muzzin can’t fade into the background anymore, like he could in L.A.

He’s front and centre now, and the Leafs couldn’t be more pleased so far.

“You don’t win a Stanley Cup by accident; you know how to play,” Babcock reitereated, referencing Muzzin’s 2014 Cup win with L.A. “Really good in his own end, denies the outlet pass, is a big body and plays real hard between the whistles. Obviously with his experience and the kind of man he is, he’s going to make us a better team.”

“I couldn’t imagine a welcoming like this,” added Muzzin. “Coming here, I didn’t know what to expect with media and hockey and in general. Very pleased with how it’s going. Hopefully it continues.”

TAKEAWAYS

Johnny in the spot

It wasn’t just that Johnsson scored for the first time since Jan. 12 on Monday. Or that he was involved in four of Toronto’s six scoring plays, to produce the first four-point game of his career. It was the combination of everything Johnsson did well – from his second efforts to his heads-up playmaking that made Monday one of his best performances of the season.  

Coming off a concussion suffered before the bye week, Johnsson hadn’t been as visible in Toronto’s last two games, but against Anaheim looked like he was back to his old tricks chasing down pucks, intercepting passes and patrolling for open ice around the net to capitalize on.

His first goal was off a great read of Gibson, waiting the goalie out and popping the puck in off his backhand. Late in the third period, with the game well in hand, Johnsson couldn’t resist tossing one more shot in, the bookend to a terrific night.

When he wasn’t scoring, Johnsson was happy to divvy the puck up. He and linemate Frederik Gauthier set up Tavares’ opening score, from their defensive zone breakout to battling through the neutral zone and teeing up the play for Tavares to finish.

And then on Muzzin’s goal, it was just quick passing by Johnsson and Jake Gardiner that put the newly acquired blueliner in position to bury the puck four seconds into the man advantage.

If Johnsson can put together more games like Monday night’s, he could easily work himself back into the Leafs’ top-nine rotation. He finished with 67 per cent possession and four shots on goal.

Big-play Willy returns

Since uniting on a line with Brown and Nazem Kadri before the Leafs’ bye week, there’s been an extra step to Nylander’s game, evidence that the winger’s confidence is slowly returning after he lost the first two months of the season to contract negotiations.  

On Monday, his unit was buzzing throughout the game’s first 40 minutes, but in the third period they finally solved Gibson, with Nylander leading the way.

It started with his pass to Brown, a difficult play through Anaheim’s defence that had to be perfectly placed to make for an easy tap-in for Brown. In quick succession after that, Nylander broke an 11-game goal-drought with his second score of the season, off a terrific individual play and subsequent shot high-blocker on Gibson.

The two-point effort was Nylander’s second multi-point game in his last four outings, after coming up with only one multi-point game in his first 20 contests this season. He also boasted a team-high 72 per cent possession on the night, with three shots on goal in a plus-3 performance.

Nylander said after the game that he’s not all the way back just yet, and Babcock concurred, but both are encouraged by the positive strides Nylander has shown in recent games.

Focused Freddie

Three years ago, the Ducks had to decide which goalie to keep as a starter – Frederik Andersen or Gibson. After watching them split the crease in 2015-16, Anaheim went with Gibson, and shipped Andersen to Toronto. Fast forward to Monday, and Andersen recorded his 94th win as a Leaf, passing Ed Belfour for sole possession of ninth place on the franchise's all-time wins list by a goalie. 

Playing opposite the goaltender that Anaheim chose over him, Andersen was particularly strong, evidenced by every quick-snapping glove save, every sprawled out post-to-post stop, even in the hint of a grin behind his Lego Batman mask when holding an ex-teammate at bay. 

One such ex, winger Jakob Silfverberg, came close to putting a game-tying goal past Andersen midway through the second fame, during a good shift for the Ducks outduelling Tavares’ line with Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman with a heavy cycle. But Andersen made some impressive close-range saves, including on Silfverberg from the slot.

The Leafs did well holding the Ducks’ chances to a minimum, allowing only 25 on Andersen compared to the 44 sent towards Gibson and then Chad Johnson. Other than Rickard’s one-timer beating Andersen high, the goaltender held up his end of the bargain on a night dominated by the home team, finishing with a .960 save percentage. ​

Blue and White Trending

Tracking Leafs’ trends all season long

Monday's win was only the second time Toronto has produced a winning streak of any length since Dec. 6, going 12-9-3 in that stretch. 

Next up

The Leafs continue their three-game homestand on Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators.

Open Mike

“If you go back over [Andreas Johnsson’s] career here with the Leafs, he’s started the same [slow] way every year, so we’re going to have to change something there. But, obviously, he's a good player. He's got tenacity, makes people mad out there, which I like. He goes into the hard areas and he’s not scared to go into the hard areas. That’s why he has the puck a lot. He obviously had himself a good night.”

–     Coach Mike Babcock, on Andreas Johnsson turning a corner after his slow start to the season​