Columnist image

TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

| Archive

TORONTO – Although there wasn’t much to play for in their Thursday matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning, locked in as they are to a first-round playoff meeting with the Bruins that starts in Boston next week, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ goal in their second-last regular season game was to fine-tune the best version of themselves ahead of the postseason.

Their hard-fought 3-1 loss to the NHL’s top team showed Toronto that there’s still room to grow in that respect, although time to do so is rapidly running out.

“Our team has to find our rhythm quickly,” said Mitch Marner, the Leafs’ lone goal scorer on this night. “We’ve had these games where we’ve played very well and been very good defensively and offensively and not given up much, and then we’ve had these games where it just kind of blows up. We have to get on track. We have to make sure every game in this [Boston] series, there isn’t a lot given up on the D side.”

Marner was the Leafs’ best player in Thursday’s loss, exuding high-octane tenacity in all three zones while frustrating Tampa with his lightning-fast reflexes dislodging pucks. His 26th goal of the season gave the Leafs an early 1-0 lead, coming off a two-on-one rush he started by forcing a turnover at Toronto’s defensive blueline and sending his line with John Tavares and Zach Hyman back the other way.

That was only Marner’s second goal in 15 games, but increased his team-lead in points to 93, while he also paces all Leafs with 67 assists. And if anyone in Toronto’s lineup already looks to be in true playoff form, it’s the 21-year-old winger.

“I thought [Marner] was a star,” said Leafs coach Mike Babcock. “I thought he was really good. He is a good hockey player. He makes good plays. He plays without the puck really, really well. In these big games, he is always in the right spot and knows how to play.”

Not only did Marner succeed in beating Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy when no one else among his teammates could, Marner was active defensively as well, backchecking Brayden Point so well in the second period he earned a standing ovation from the assembled crowd.

In many instances, Marner and the Leafs successfully went toe-to-toe with the Lightning. The problem, as it often is for Toronto, is that they make careless mistakes that almost always come back to haunt them.

That was the case when Steven Stamkos got a shorthanded breakaway in the middle frame and tied the game, 1-1. And it was again when the Leafs were caught on a bad change late in the third, carelessly turned the puck over and Alex Killorn fired home the game-winner with less than six minutes left in regulation. Nikita Kucherov added the empty-netter to round out Tampa’s victory.

It wasn’t that the Leafs didn’t play solidly all night, outshooting Tampa 30-29 and winning the possession battle at 51 per cent. It’s the same tiresome issues that repeatedly halt their attempted forward progress though, and the frustration over that is mounting.

“We have to stop making mistakes,” Marner said bluntly. “People are scoring on them, so we have to clean some things up. But I thought our team played well together [tonight]. And we know who we’re playing [in the postseason]. We know how hard they work. It’s going to be a series of inches. We have to stop giving up these odd-man rushes and these chances against; these players are going to score on us.”

“I am disappointed we turned the puck over there [in the third]. I thought we had a good game,” added Babcock. “On that shift we had turned it over a couple of times already and, in the end, we paid for it.”

Ultimately, the Leafs feel there’s enough talent and wherewithal about them to use the final week before Game 1 and eradicate the more glaring concerns that remain. Everything they do now is focused in some way on Boston anyway, every shift from now until next week is a fresh opportunity to prepare.

“I think we’re really ready,” said Jake Gardiner, who returned to the Leafs’ lineup on Thursday after missing 18 games with a back injury. “Every power play meeting, basically in all aspects we say ‘this is what Boston’s going to do’ and we just have to be ready for that. I thought we played pretty good [tonight].”

The Leafs have one final dress rehearsal, on Saturday in Montreal, to put all the pieces together. Jake Muzzin and Nazem Kadri, both of whom didn’t play on Thursday due to illness and a minor injury respectively, will not suit up on Saturday either, but they’re expected to be ready when Toronto ships out to Boston.

“I thought we did a lot of good things, especially early on,” said Auston Matthews. “For the most part, we took care of the puck. It’s obviously frustrating not coming out with two points but we played a good hockey team and overall, I thought we did a pretty good job.”

TAKEAWAYS

All good, Gards

It has been more than five weeks since Gardiner last played for the Leafs, a span of 18 games, but on Thursday the defenceman made a hiccup-free transition back into Toronto’s lineup.

Babcock has said before the game he would manage Gardiner’s minutes as necessary, and by the end his time on ice total (16:51) was well below his season average (21:12). The Leafs coach also aided Gardiner by giving him more offensive zone and neutral zone starts (7) than defensive zone (1) starts and allowed him to get a feel for the puck again after a long layoff.

“[Ron Hainsey] was laughing at me after the first shift because I think I touched [the puck] four times,” joked Gardiner. “Not exactly how I planned the first shift out, but once I got into the game it felt pretty good. It was a lot easier transition than I expected.”

Before suiting up, Gardiner had stressed the importance of keeping things simple and making easy plays, and that formula served him well throughout the night. It wasn’t as dynamic a performance for Gardiner, specifically on the offensive side, but the veteran has an eye on getting back there before playoffs begin next week.

“The timing is always off a little bit, whether to stand up or to get back,” Gardiner said. “I think it would have been tough to go into Boston and not have played a game.”

He finished the game with zero shots and 56 per cent possession.

Andersen’s back on track

There’s no two ways about it – Andersen’s March was rough (5-2-3, .890 save percentage). But just as that month gave way to April, so too has Andersen turned the page, looking much closer to the Vezina Trophy contender he was for much of the season.

When Andersen’s confidence is high, he’s snapping pucks emphatically into his glove and controlling rebounds to the outside, just as he did throughout the first period against Tampa.

Going one-on-one with Stamkos in the second, Andersen read his breakaway chance well, but didn’t get all of the puck, watching it hop over his glove hand and in. Andersen regrouped well, and was moving fluidly. He challenged the Lightning with some aggressive angles in the second, but against a team that moves as quickly as they do, it often ended up being the right move.

“Felt good,” Andersen said of his game. “Feel nice and calm and aggressive as well at the same time.”

Andersen admitted the Killorn goal was a bit chaotic, questioning whether the Lightning sniper meant to go low, which was Andersen’s read, and the puck unexpectedly flew high on him and in. Regardless, the total breakdown of the Leafs in front of Andersen left him little chance of making either save, and he closed out with some strong saves after that.

Andersen finished with 26 saves and a .929 save percentage.

Can’t buy one

In four meetings with the Lightning this season, the Leafs’ power play failed to convert even once, finishing Thursday’s game 0-for-2 and 0-for-12 on the season.

Blue and White Trending

Tracking Leafs’ trends all season long

The Leafs gave up a shorthanded goal to the Lightning in three of their four meeting this season, accounting for one-third of the shorthanded goals they’ve allowed all season (3-of-9)    

Next up

Toronto heads to Montreal for its regular season finale on Saturday. ​