Leafs sticking with Matthews and Marner together for Game 5
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The Maple Leafs practised at Ford Performance Centre on Tuesday.
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Auston Matthews is goalless through four games of Toronto's second-round series against Florida. Mitch Marner did not register a shot in the last two games. But Leafs coach Craig Berube is sticking with them together on the top line for Game 5 against the Panthers.
"It's not all about scoring for me and for them," the coach explained. "I mean, it's about the game, playing 200 feet, doing all the little things that are needed to be done. Yeah, I've gone away from them for a bit and it's fine, but it's not exactly what I want to see. So I put them back together. They've been a great pair for a long time."
Berube briefly split up the longtime linemates for a couple shifts on Sunday in what ended up being a 2-0 loss to Florida, which evened up the second-round series at two games each.
"Just stick to what we're doing," Marner said. "Stay patient with it. Yeah, we knew it wasn't going to be an easy series. They're a very good defensive team. They make you work for everything, so just stick with what we're doing and trust our process."
The Leafs are outscoring the Panthers 5-2 in the series with the top line of Matthews, Marner and Matthew Knies on the ice in 5-on-5 play.
But Toronto's top line could only muster two shots when on the ice together in Game 4, per NaturalStatTrick.com, despite playing mostly against the Anton Lundell line. They only allowed one Panthers shot during their almost nine minutes of 5-on-5 play, but couldn't tilt the ice in Toronto's favour.
The Panthers outshot the Leafs 37-23 in the game.
"We didn't do a good enough job of helping our D in executing coming out of the zone, and they were able to kind of sustain an O-zone pressure throughout the game," Matthews said of the team's performance on Sunday. "I thought there was times where we were better, but I think just consistently over the 60 minutes they outworked us and outplayed us in that area."
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Marner described his game as being "fine" right now. What about the lack of shots?
"Try to get yourself to better areas," he said. "I tried to get shots through last game. They did a good job blocking them. For myself, it’s about just trying to work around it. I’m trying to find sticks a lot of times, especially on power plays, to cause havoc down low and that’s what my game is."
The Panthers have been deploying the defence pair of Seth Jones (6-foot-4, 213 pounds) and Niko Mikkola (6-foot-6, 204 pounds) against Toronto's top line.
"Two big guys that have great length to their bodies with their stick, their positioning," Marner said. "They make it hard to make plays in front of them so we got to try to exploit behind them and work that kind of ice. And I thought we've done a good job of it. It's not going to be perfect every single time, you know that, so you keep working towards it."
There should be more ice available on the power play, but the Leafs failed to convert on three chances on Sunday to drop to 2/15 in the series. The Panthers aggressive penalty kill is proving difficult to break down.
"Try to work the puck around as much as we can," Marner said of the strategy. "Try to get them tired, and then from that point on just try to exploit areas that we can. We've done a good job throughout the series of doing that. The last game, it just wasn't there."
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Anthony Stolarz completed a 30-minute on-ice workout with goalie coach Curtis Sanford ahead of the main practice on Tuesday. Sanford checked in with Stolarz as the session progressed to make sure the 31-year-old was responding well.
"He's progressing," said Berube. "He was on the ice a little bit, so he's doing much better."
Tuesday was the first time that the media saw Stolarz on the ice since leaving Game 1 with an injury. He took a forearm to the head from Panthers centre Sam Bennett before vomiting at the bench and heading to the hospital for further evaluation. The team has not announced any specifics about the injury.
Does Berube have a best-case scenario for when Stolarz may be ready to return to game action.
"Not right now," the coach said. "I don't know."
But the mere presence of Stolarz on the ice generated some positive energy around the team. Joseph Woll called it a "good little morale boost."
Added Marner, "Seeing him in good spirits, it's always something you love to see as a teammate."
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Woll stopped 35 of 37 shots in Game 4 as his mom watched from the crowd. How does she handle the nerves?
"Probably a lot more nervous than me," Woll said. "Yeah, I can't imagine."
Woll's mom and two siblings travelled from the family home in St. Louis to south Florida to watch the 26-year-old make his seventh career playoff start.
"Just having the support of my family there means the world. I don't get to see them as much as I'd like to living away from home. It's pretty special that they were able to come."
After allowing five goals in an overtime loss in Game 3, Woll bounced back in a big way on Sunday.
This is the third straight year in which Woll has taken over the Leafs net midway through the playoffs.
"The experience the last couple of years has certainly helped build the confidence that I know I'm capable in those situations," he said. "And I think I was prepared. I was making sure I was doing things to keep myself in game shape, even though you're not playing the game."
Woll owns an impressive .915 save percentage in 11 playoff appearances.
Leafs Nation has rallied behind the thoughtful goalie with videos being posted on social media featuring fans singing the Oasis song 'Wonderwall' with Woll's name inserted into the lyrics.
"Kniesy was showing me that the other day," Woll said with a smile. "Yeah, it's nice. It's a nice little ring to it."
Is he an Oasis fan?
"I like Wonderwall, yeah."
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In the final seconds of Sunday's game, Leafs centre Max Domi hit Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov into the boards from behind. Domi was fined for boarding by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Monday.
He refused to address what happened on Tuesday.
"Just looking forward to the next game, bud," he said.
Does he expect any emotional carryover from that play in Game 5?
"Just looking forward to the next game," Domi reiterated.
Berube does not think the Panthers will be looking for retribution.
"What are they going to do?" the coach mused. "I mean, they can go after him, but Max has been around. Yeah, I get it, your emotions get high and things happen. That's part of the game and we all know that. He's going to be fine. Just go out and play his game and do his thing. You can't worry if there's going to be a reaction. You know, you just got to go and play. I don't think there will be a reaction, but I don't really have a whole lot to stay on it."
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After Domi's hit on Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk got in the ear of William Nylander and suggested the Leafs winger would now be in the crosshairs of the Panthers on Wednesday night.
"He probably didn't even hear him," Berube said. "He doesn't hear me."
The coach has been stressing the need for composure since the playoffs began, but the Leafs lacked discipline in Game 4. Toronto took four straight penalties in the first period, which eventually led to Florida's game-winning goal. Power plays ended up favouring the Panthers 6-3.
"We talked about that today," Berube said. "We can't go to the box that many times, especially four in the first period, it takes your momentum away. It takes certain guys out of their rhythm on the bench and overusing other guys, so it's not a good recipe. We've got to be more disciplined. Like the stick ones aren't good. You've got to control your stick. We all know that. Those are the ones, in my opinion, that hurt you. I get there's physical penalties and hits and things like that, and you're going to go to the box at times, but that's playing the game hard."
Domi was whistled for high sticking on Sunday, which started Toronto's parade to the penalty box. Domi leads the Leafs with five minor penalties in the playoffs.
"You got to stay disciplined," said Domi, who led the Leafs in penalty minutes in the regular season (76 PIM in 74 games). "Obviously some penalties you're not going to be able to control. It's just how it goes, the game of hockey. But you got to be super, super careful and diligent with your stick. The high sticking, the tripping and all that stuff, it can be avoided. Sometimes it's just really bad luck, but for the most part, you have to be aware of where your stick goes. And that can eliminate a couple there. But other than that, just play hard between whistles."
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Defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson missed Leafs practice due to an illness.
He's just a little sick," Berube said. "Nothing terrible, but I thought it was better that he stay off today and rest up."
Jani Hakanpaa filled in as a placeholder beside Simon Benoit on Toronto's third pair.
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The Panthers held an optional skate in Fort Lauderdale before flying north. Evan Rodrigues, who left Game 4 after getting hit by Ekman-Larsson, took the ice.
“He is not ruled out, but not cleared to play," Panthers coach Paul Maurice told reporters.
Rodrigues, who has been skating on the top line beside Barkov and Sam Reinhart, is scheduled to skate again on Wednesday morning before a decision on his status for Game 5 is made.
Ekman-Larsson was assessed a two-minute minor for interference for the hit.
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Lines in Tuesday's practice:
Knies - Matthews - Marner
Pacioretty - Tavares - Nylander
Lorentz - Laughton - Jarnkrok
McMann - Domi - Holmberg
Robertson - Kampf - Reaves
McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
Benoit - Hakanpaa*
Mermis - Myers
Woll
Murray
Hildeby
Power play units at Tuesday's practice:
QB: Marner
Flanks: Matthews, Nylander
Middle: Tavares
Net front: Knies
QB: Rielly
Flanks: Domi, Robertson*
Middle: McMann
Net front: Pacioretty
*Ekman-Larsson absent