The New York Islanders skated at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday. The Maple Leafs held a team meeting.
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New Leafs defenceman Darren Raddysh was on the ice for all three Canadiens goals and committed a game-high five giveaways during Tuesday’s 3-2 season-opening loss. The 30-year-old from Toronto is still adjusting to a new team, new partner and the new higher expectations that come with signing an eight-year, $68-million deal with his hometown team.
“We’re all human, so you have a little extra pressure, because of all the things you mentioned, no matter what,” acknowledged head coach Jim Hiller. “So you can say, ‘Just relax and go out there and play,’ but I think he’ll have to work his way through that. I think getting the first one out of the way probably will help him.”
Raddysh and the Leafs get a second chance at a first win on Wednesday night when the New York Islanders visit Scotiabank Arena. It will be only the third game that Raddysh has played with partner Morgan Rielly, who missed the first pre-season game during this year’s shortened training camp.
“Well, it’ll take time,” Hiller said of the top-pair chemistry. “There’s no question. And we’ve talked about this, lots of new guys, we’re trying to get this thing together as quick as we can, but we all know it’s going to take a little bit of time. We just want to shrink that time. So I just can’t put a date on that, but everybody will get better together.”
“It’s all a process,” Rielly said. “It’s challenging to come into a new place and a new team, a new system, new coach, and play well the first night ... I think it kind of comes down to execution and, as we go along here, I think we’ll get more comfortable and that will improve.”
Raddysh is coming off a breakthrough 22-goal, 70-point season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Rielly, meanwhile, is trying to get on track after a couple down years in Toronto.
Raddysh and Rielly are both at their best when on the attack. So, what’s it like striking a balance?
“It’s not hard,” Rielly stressed. “I think it’s just based on opportunity, just based on where the puck is. I think we’re both able to kind of recognize the right spots to go. I don’t think we both want to go at the same time, but it’s not hard. It’s just based off game flow.”
Raddysh, who possesses a booming point shot, has supplanted Rielly as the quarterback on Toronto’s top power play unit. The Leafs failed to convert on three chances during Tuesday’s opener.
“We just didn’t move it quick enough,” said Hiller. “If there was one area of the game, you know, that we probably had the opportunity to at least get tied or get ahead, it would have been the power play. We need to be more dangerous than we were.”
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The Leafs actually outshot the Canadiens 28-24 in Tuesday’s game.
“I think defensively we played a pretty strong game,” Hiller noted. “I think the majority of their chances came off some break-out turnovers from us, so that’s not a defensive breakdown. That’s more of an offensive breakdown with the puck on your stick. So that’s something we have to clean up because we gave a couple freebies that way.”
Peter DeBoer, who is starting his first full season as Islanders coach, empathized with Hiller as he watched the Leafs debut.
“Listen, we’re similar,” DeBoer said. “What can’t be overstated either is new coaching staff, new systems, you know, with a shortened training camp, we’re dealing with it on our end too. We were talking about it this morning, it’s really hard to implement everything you want to put in. I think the teams with new coaching staffs are paying the bill a little bit early here for that, but we’re all in the same boat and we gotta make it work.”
Training camps were shortened to just 13 days this fall with veteran players limited to two pre-season games.
DeBoer did get a head start by coaching the Islanders in the final four games of the regular season last year. That gave the players a sense of his philosophy.
“I feel much further ahead than, you know, as an example, Jimmy would over there,” DeBoer noted.
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Wednesday’s game will feature the first overall picks in the last two NHL drafts with Gavin McKenna facing off with Matthew Schaefer.
McKenna did not hit the scoresheet on Tuesday and was on the ice for two of Montreal’s goals.
“Not my best,” the 18-year-old left winger said. “But, yeah, glad we’re playing again [Wednesday].”
“Well, I mean, it wasn’t my best either,” said linemate John Tavares. “It wasn’t the cleanest of hockey games. There wasn’t a whole lot of plays being made. It was choppy at times. It seemed like on both sides the puck wasn’t super friendly.”
McKenna has proven to be a quick study during his rise up the ranks. Hiller pointed out the Whitehorse native made a big jump from the team’s first pre-season game to the second.
“It’s up another level again,” Hiller noted. “You just keep, you know, taking the test and he’ll be back. So I thought he was all right, but he’ll probably want to be better.”
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Easton Cowan moved up to McKenna’s spot on the second line for a couple shifts on Tuesday and assisted on the second goal by William Nylander. He was also included in the 6-on-5 group late in the third period.
“He’s had a really good camp,” Hiller said. “I wasn’t here, but what everybody tells me from last year to this year, he’s had a great summer. I’ve just been really impressed with him in my time here ... You do well and you should get rewarded, and so we thought he had a pretty good game, and we wanted to reward him for that.”
Cowan finished his rookie NHL season with 29 points in 66 games before helping the Toronto Marlies win the Calder Cup.
“Yeah, obviously I feel a bit better,” Cowan said prior to Tuesday’s game. “You know, bigger, stronger, and I feel more confident for sure. So just excited to get out there and play some hockey.”
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Schaefer watched McKenna’s debut and offered some advice for how his former World Junior teammate can navigate things moving forward.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” the defenceman stressed. “I know obviously we have a lot of expectations for ourselves ... Just enjoy it as you go. You’re playing in the best league in the world. You’re going to learn so many things. Don’t take it for granted. Just keep working hard and keep being yourself.”
Schaefer is mature beyond his 19 years and will be serving as an alternate captain for the Islanders this year.
“Some people are leaders because of what they’ve accomplished, this kid is just a natural leader,” said Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche. “Even last night, I was here in the press box for the Leafs-Habs game and everybody is talking to me about Matthew Schaefer and I tell them, ‘The great thing is he’s actually a better kid than he is a player.’ His work ethic, his enthusiasm that he brings, you see when he’s in the lineup there’s a different level of energy, so he’s earned that.”
“What a privilege to coach a player like that,” gushed DeBoer. “You know, he’s even better live and in person than he is on tape and I watched a lot of tape of him last year while we were scouting for the Canadian Olympic team. But to actually stand behind the bench those last four games last year with him out there, he’s a real difference-making player. There’s very few of them in the world and he’s one of them.”
DeBoer was an assistant coach on Canada’s silver-medal winning team in Milan. Schaefer was among the final cuts.
“You know what, he was really close,” DeBoer recalled. “I mean, he was in our discussions right up until the last day and, in hindsight, if we turned back the clock, [Josh] Morrissey got hurt the first game, he probably could have helped us.”
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The Islanders will be leaning on Schaefer to slow down Toronto’s top line, which was dangerous on Tuesday night with Kirill Marchenko joining Auston Matthews and Jack Roslovic.
“He’s a big boy,” Matthews said of Marchenko after the game. “He can make plays, shoots it. I thought for what he had to kind of endure the last 24 hours as far as getting traded, flying here last night, getting here, new everything, getting a visa, all that stuff, I mean, you know, I thought we had some really good opportunities and some good looks, some good chances.”
Marchenko landed four shots on net and picked up an assist on the opening goal by Nylander.
“Once he gets settled in and the more time you’re going to get together, you know, the chemistry’s going to build more and more,” Matthews said. “But, I mean, all in all, we started really well.”
“Unbelievable for me,” Marchenko said. “I don’t know what I can say. They pass me puck. I have like four, five shots and I have good looks. It’s just so easy to play with these guys. I try my best for these guys.”
Marchenko, who debuted with his new team without even one practice under his belt, admitted to dealing with nerves and he wasn’t satisfied with his performance.
“Actually, I have good chances, but it’s not what I want to see from myself,” the 26-year-old Russian said. “I can play better. I can play better, for sure.”
Marchenko, who is in the final year of his current contract, signed a six-year extension with the Leafs following Monday’s trade. Why was he looking to move on from Columbus?
“I just don’t answer this question, sorry,” he said. “I keep that private for me a little bit. It’s still four years with CBJ, it’s unbelievable for me and I grow up like a player. But now I think I can do another step here, honestly, with these guys here in this locker room.”
Marchenko grew as a player in Columbus, but the Jackets never reached the playoffs in his tenure in the Ohio capital. The Leafs, meanwhile, have made the playoffs in nine of 10 seasons with Matthews. “Just good opportunity for me and good opportunity to win the games, win the Cups, win something here and I think everybody want to win here,” Marchenko said. “And it’s Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s one of the biggest teams in the NHL and the world.”
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Hiller confirmed forward Bo Groulx will draw in up front on Wednesday night, but the coach opted not to reveal who will be a scratch. Gritty winger Zack MacEwen logged a team low five minutes and 25 seconds on Tuesday.
Anthony Stolarz will get the start in net for Toronto. Ilya Sorokin is expected to get the start for the Islanders.
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The Islanders will be missing centre Mathew Barzal, who is dealing with a knee inflammation.
“We felt the last week he’s had really, really good progress,” Darche said. “We hope that maybe by the weekend or early next week, at the latest, he gets back on the ice. We’ll see how things progress this week, but he’s had a really good week last week and he’s with us on the trip, so hopefully he’s back on the ice soon. And Mat Barzal is not a guy that needs three weeks to get ready. Maybe when I played, with my poor skating, I needed more time, but a guy like Mat Barzal, like, you give him a few practices and he’ll be good to go.”
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Lines in Islanders skate on Wednesday:
Holmstrom - Horvat - Palmieri
Maccelli - Ritchie - Schenn
Eklund - Pageau - Heineman
Palat - Cizikas - Duclair
MacLean
Pelech - Schaefer
Romanov - Pulock
Stanley - DeAngelo
Mayfield, Kessel
Sorokin starts
Varlamov
