Columnist image

TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

| Archive

TORONTO – Lately for the Maple Leafs, there’s been no place like the friendly confines of home.

On Saturday night against the Detroit Red Wings, Toronto will be gunning for their 13th straight win at Air Canada Centre, which would continue extending the franchise record. And, if they do, the Leafs will have the lessons learned on their latest road trip at least partially to thank for keeping the streak alive.

Toronto left earlier in the week for their last multi-game road trip of the season, which happened to include stops against the two best teams in the league (Tampa Bay and Nashville). The Leafs had Tampa on the ropes and then a 3-0 lead en route to defeat, but the humbling loss only made their subsequent 5-2 victory over the Predators all the more impressive.  

Confidence, as the Leafs well know, must be earned, not given. Toronto’s earned theirs and is preparing to see it grow even further.  

“We knew the importance of the road trip going into it, [facing] two teams that are at the top of their conferences,” said Morgan Rielly after morning skate on Saturday. “We are proud of the way we were able to go out on the road and come home with two points, but it’s important here with eight games left [that we know] they’re all valuable points and we want to make a push.”  

That means not taking the Red Wings, or any of the other non-playoff bound opponents left on the docket, for granted. Regardless of where they are in the standings, Detroit frequently plays the Leafs tough - The last time the two teams met on Feb. 18, the Leafs let their lead evaporate midway through the third period and it took a goal from Auston Matthews with 31 seconds left in regulation to put Toronto over the top.  

“Absolutely, every time we play them it seems to be a close game and a good battle. We expect nothing less from them tonight,” said Matthews. “[But] knowing [Nashville] is one of the best teams in the league and at the top of their conference, to play as well as we did, it definitely gives us some confidence moving forward and into another game tonight.”

The problem hampering the Red Wings of late has been an inability to find the back of the net – Detroit has scored just nine goals in their last five games, and they’re coming off a 1-0 shutout loss to the Washington Capitals on Thursday. But as Mike Babcock pointed out, the Red Wings’ defensive game has been solid and they’ll need all hands on deck to contain the seemingly unstoppable scoring prowess of James van Riemsdyk and the Leafs’ red-hot power play.  

The Leafs’ veteran winger boasts eight goals and 10 points in his last five games, and has tallied a power play marker with Toronto’s top unit in each of the team’s last two contests. Thus far in the month of March, the Leafs are 11-for-20 with the extra man, a blistering pace driven by the van Riemsdyk-led group. But Babcock sees more to van Riemsdyk’s hot streak than just his “elite” power-play abilities.  

“I just think his 5-on-5 play is way better,” said Babcock of van Riemsdyk. “His 5-on-5, he’s skating better, he’s jumping, he’s on pucks. Now is that because he’s scoring and feeling better, or is it because trade deadline is over and he doesn’t have to deal with that crap and those questions? I don’t know the answer to that. I just know he’s good.” 

As good as the 28-year-old van Riemsdyk is playing right now, he feels that he and his teammates can be even better.

“It’s definitely nice when the pucks are going in and it feels good especially this time of year when things are tightening up,” added van Riemsdyk. “We’re trying to make a push in the standings and you want to be at the top of your game this time of year and you want to keep pushing. We still have room to grow and in being more consistent as a team and we’ll continue to work on that.” 

Van Riemsdyk is famous in the Leafs’ room for his meticulous preparation and, while he deflects endless questions from the media probing for details on his fabled routine, even teammates admit to being in the dark about it all. All that matters is that he doesn’t let up any time soon. Toronto has won five of their last six games going into Saturday’s contest and those two pillars – van Riemsdyk and the power play – have been the Leafs’ greatest assets throughout.  

“I think it’s important that we just keep doing what we’re doing,” said Rielly, who quarterbacks van Riemsdyk’s power play unit. “We’ve been able to score some big goals so moving forward we just want to keep doing what makes us successful. Hopefully we can keep it rolling a little bit, I don’t think anyone expects to keep going at the pace we are, but it’s important we do our best.”

 

Maple Leafs projected lineup vs. Detroit

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Marleau-Kadri-Marner
van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Brown
Johnsson-Plekanec-Kapanen

Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Polak

Andersen starts
McElhinney​