The Maple Leaf practised at Ford Performance Centre on Friday.
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After watching his second line get badly outshot on Wednesday night, Jim Hiller made a point of checking in with John Tavares, William Nylander and Gavin McKenna.
“It’s interesting,” the Leafs coach said. “I’ve talked to all three of them separately and all three of them have the right answer. So they didn’t even need my thoughts on it. They got to get the pucks a little deeper at certain times and play a little bit more in the O-zone. I think that’s the big solution.”
Shot attempts favoured the New York Islanders 19-3 with that line on the ice on Wednesday night, per NaturalStatTrick.com. But the Leafs will stick with Tavares between McKenna and Nylander to start Saturday’s game against the Ottawa Senators.
McKenna highlighted the play of Toronto’s third line – Nick Paul between Easton Cowan and Colton Sissons – when asked where his group can improve.
“You see how hard they forecheck,” McKenna noted. “I think that’s something that me, John and Willie have kind of talked about. That’s how we’re going to create. Every single time you don’t have to make a play off the rush. Sometimes you gotta make a simple play and then just go to work, and I think that’s something that we can do. And I think when we start to work like that, we’ll get a lot more results.”
Nylander scored twice in the opening-night loss to the Montreal Canadiens, but was limited to one shot on Wednesday and lost his man on New York’s shorthanded goal. Nylander did not take another shift as the Leafs clung to a 2-1 lead late in the game.
“I think we’ll see Willie [playing] five-versus-six [situations] at different times,” Hiller said. “That game wasn’t one of them.”
Cowan produced a goal and an assist on Wednesday, but logged just 13 minutes and 23 seconds, which was ninth among the team’s forwards. The sophomore winger remained on the third line at practice.
“Well, we really like the line,” Hiller said. “So, you know, sometimes you can overthink things and change everything around, or you just say, ‘You know what, they’re good, so let’s just keep them together.’ Good start for them but, again, it’s just early for everybody, so we’ll give them another run and see [how] we look.”
Cowan did get some shifts with the second line in Tuesday’s loss and set up a goal by Nylander. He leads the Leafs in scoring with three points.
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McKenna’s family has remained in town and will be in the stands again on Saturday.
“They’re here till Sunday, so hopefully I can, you know, get my first something for them in the building,” McKenna said with a smile.
McKenna is still looking for his first point in the NHL, but appeared a lot more comfortable in his second game.
“There’s a lot to learn from those first two games,” McKenna said. “I think, for me, it’s a little bit getting more to the inside, trying to support my teammates a bit more, be in spots where they can find me, and get a few more puck touches. But I thought that second game was a little bit better, made a few more plays, and yeah, just looking to build on it.”
The 18-year-old is grateful for the positive tone Hiller is striking in their conversations.
“He’s trying not to put too much pressure on me, and I really appreciated everything he’s done,” McKenna said. “He’s still got confidence in me.”
On the other side of the ice on Saturday, McKenna will see fellow Whitehorse native Dylan Cozens.
“It’ll be super cool,” McKenna said. “It’ll be amazing for our community to have two Whitehorse people finally play each other in the NHL. I know there’ll be a lot of people from back home watching, so it’ll be a special moment.”
McKenna has been getting plenty of support from folks back in Yukon.
“A lot of text messages,” he said. “People trying to pump me up and stuff. And, yeah, whenever I get texts from people back home, it’s super heartfelt, and they’re all amazing people, and they all support me. That community has been amazing to me and, yeah, they’ll always be my home.”
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In an unusual move for a rookie, McKenna skipped the Leafs optional skate on Tuesday morning. Veteran defenceman Chris Tanev noted the kid was showing some “swag” by staying off the ice.
“Usually I morning skate,” McKenna explained. “But with a back to back, it was my first game, I wanted to be rested. So, yeah, it wasn’t a swagger thing. It was just trying to keep my body fresh.”
How did the 164-pound McKenna feel after his first back-to-back set in the NHL?
“Not too bad,” he said. “Legs might have got a bit heavy after the first game. In college you play a few back to back so [I’m] used to it but, yeah, at the NHL, it’s a different breed. So recovery has been a big thing for me this summer and going into this year. And I think living with JT and just seeing these guys, how they treat their bodies every single day, I think it rubs off on me and it’s helped.”
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In his first media availability since the season opener, Sergei Bobrovsky explained what happened with McKenna’s rookie lap to start warm-up. The 38-year-old goalie hit the ice first instead of ceding the stage to the first overall pick.
“I completely forgot,” Bobrovsky said. “I didn’t think about it. I completely forgot. Yeah, I came to him and I also told him.”
Bobrovsky smiles.
“So, I pretend that it’s my first game too. But, no, I didn’t mean to do that. So it just happened by accident.”
Bobrovsky allowed three goals on 21 shots to take the loss on Tuesday, but felt good overall.
“It’s been great,” he said. “I enjoy my experience so far. Great team, great organization. Fans been great. Atmosphere great.”
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After getting traded from Columbus on Monday and playing with his new team on Tuesday and Wednesday, winger Kirill Marchenko finally got a chance to unwind a bit as the Leafs enjoyed a day off on Thursday.
“Just a little breathe and relax a little bit, play with my cat, and try to don’t think about hockey much,” the 26-year-old said. “And, yeah, focus on finding an apartment or house here, because I’m in the hotel right now.”
On Friday, Marchenko participated in his first practice with the Leafs. He continues to skate on the top line beside Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic.
“It’s giving me some confidence,” Marchenko said of the practice. “Just feel the ice, just feel my partners again because I have two games, zero practice, it’s kind of tough. And now I’m happy. Happy to practice with our line today. And we feel each other a little bit, and it’s nice. We build the chemistry.”
Marchenko pointed out that the line converted a couple nice goals during the workout.
“I think he enjoyed it,” said Hiller. “I talked to him after and he was really happy to get it. I think I told you guys, I get the sense from him [that] he really loves hockey. He wants to be on the ice all the time. He loves practice. A little bit less pressure when you’re practising with your linemates. They’re gonna have to find a little more chemistry. I think they were able to accomplish that today.”
Marchenko picked up an assist on Tuesday and leads all Leafs forwards with seven shots. He is also tied for the team lead with six hits.
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Marchenko, a righty, has been slotting in on the left wing with the Leafs.
“In Russia, I grew up [a] left winger until 22,” he said. “And it’s kind of my side, actually, for [my] full life, and only in NHL I start to play right ... The game right now is so fast, and it’s a lot of changes on the ice. Sometimes I’m in the middle, sometimes I’m on the right, it doesn’t matter for me. I’m just happy to play with these guys.”
Hiller revealed he actually prefers having wingers on their off side.
“Everybody’s so aggressive with pinching now on the walls, you can protect the puck a little bit better,” he noted. “You don’t expose it as much. And then, you know, the obvious one is when you come in over the blue line with a little bit of time and space, it’s easier to cut in on your forehand and be a threat to shoot into the middle.”
The bigger adjustment for Marchenko is on the power play where he’s playing in the middle/bumper spot on the top unit. In Columbus, he played on the flank.
“It’s a new experience for me,” he said. “But, again, we have a lot of rotation right now. We try to build chemistry ... because we have a lot of skill there. A lot of skill guys and they help me and we find the ways how we can score. If we score the goals, I don’t care where I need to play.”
Toronto has converted on just one of seven power play chances so far and the one goal came from Cowan on the second unit. The top unit is actually being outscored so far.
At one point during special teams reps on Friday, Hiller instructed to only go 75 per cent against the top unit.
“I think right now we’ve deferred a little bit to finding the perfect play, and nobody wants to be quote unquote selfish,” Hiller said. “But I think we have to shoot the puck.”
Matthews doesn’t even have a shot attempt so far on the power play.
New associate coach Daniel Alfredsson is working with the units. Saturday’s game will be a significant one for the former Senators captain who will be coaching against Ottawa for the first time in a meaningful game.
“It’s going to be a big night, let’s be honest,” Hiller said. “I loved the ovation he got in the [opening-night ceremony] from the Leafs fans. There was some talk, ‘Hey, what’s it going to be like?’ I thought it was tremendous. Obviously days have gone by as a player, now he’s one of our coaches, and full support from Leafs Nation.”
Usually Toronto’s assistant coaches are not permitted to do interviews, but Alfredsson is scheduled to address the media on Saturday morning.
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Bobrovsky highlighted Marchenko’s off-ice impact a couple times on Friday.
“He’s gonna be a great addition to the locker room as well,” Bobrovsky said of his countryman.
Marchenko certainly has not been shy around the media so far. In fact, he’s been showing off his sense of humour.
“Me again? No English,” Marchenko joked when reporters gathered around his stall after practice.
“How’s my hair?” he asked reporters before the cameras started rolling.
In recalling that Roslovic warned him about Toronto’s traffic, Marchenko pointed out that he lived in Moscow the last two summers.
“I know what’s the traffic,” he quipped. “It’s fine.”
And Marchenko actually seemed disappointed when the media session ended.
“That’s it?” he said when the scrum wrapped up before the five-minute mark.
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Lines at Friday’s practice:
Marchenko - Matthews - Roslovic
McKenna - Tavares - Nylander
Cowan - Paul - Sissons
Duhaime - Blueger - Groulx
MacEwen
McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Raddysh
Ekman-Larsson - Stecher
Blankenburg
Bobrovsky
Stolarz
Power play units at Friday’s practice:
Raddysh
Matthews - Marchenko - Nylander
Tavares
Rielly
McKenna - Paul - Roslovic
Cowan
