Dec 4, 2017
Struggling Marner says his puck luck ‘sucks’
The down-on-his-luck Maple Leafs forward has been held off the scoreboard for six straight games despite several glorious scoring opportunities. But his head coach, Mike Babcock, says he doesn’t believe in luck – it’s all about preparation and worrying about ‘things you can control,' like your work ethic, TSN’s Mark Masters writes.
By Mark Masters
TSN Toronto reporter Mark Masters checks in daily with news and notes from Maple Leafs practices and game-day skates. The Maple Leafs practised at the MasterCard Centre on Monday.
Mitch Marner has now gone six games without a point despite having some glorious chances on the Western Canada road swing. What does he think of his puck luck right now?
“Ah, yeah, well it sucks," he said bluntly. "I mean, there’s chances I’ve had that probably should go in that don’t, but it’s about trying to do the right things and making sure you’re there defensively and I think the scoring will come so you just got to be patient with it.”
Leafs head coach Mike Babcock's message at the moment is simple.
“I don’t believe in luck," he said. "I believe in preparation. When you do enough work you get lucky, that kind of thing. So, to me, worry about things you can control. You can control your work ethic and just get to work. That’s it.”
Leafs aim to be ‘dominant’ at home, not ‘cute’
Babcock put his players through a 45-minute on-ice session on Monday, which is a bit longer than usual. He noted it was designed, in part, to get the jet lag out of the legs. After spending most of the last two weeks on the road, Toronto has two home games in the next seven days – against Calgary on Wednesday and then Edmonton on Sunday, with a date against the Penguins in Pittsburgh in between (Saturday night).
"We have to do a better job at home," Babcock said. "Sometimes you get a little cuter at home and cute doesn't lead to winning a whole lot of hockey games. It leads to a whole lot of turnovers, so we got to do a better job here at home of getting ourselves re-established. We should be a dominant, dominant home team."
The Leafs have lost their last two games at the Air Canada Centre, dropping to 8-5-0 on the season in Toronto.
Babcock sticking with ‘safe’ Polak
Roman Polak remained on the third blueline pair alongside Andreas Borgman at practice even though the veteran defenceman struggled at times during the recent road trip, taking a pair of penalties on Thursday in Edmonton. He would've sat in the box again on Saturday in Vancouver, but the Canucks scored on a delayed call.
"Polie's a big, heavy guy," Babcock said. "He plays safe so that's a big part of it, too. If you feel safe with a guy out on the ice ... a guy's more likely to play."
Polak has played the last four games after sitting out the previous three weeks as a healthy scratch. He gives Babcock another option on the penalty kill. For most of the season, the Leafs have leaned heavily on Ron Hainsey and Nikita Zaistev when short-handed.
Hainsey leads the NHL in average short-handed ice time per game (4:28) while Zaitsev is third (3:43).
Coach not fretting over PK workhorse Hainsey
Is Babcock worried Hainsey may wear down?
"No, I think he's only playing like 22 minutes a night or something like that. I guarantee you that Hainsey doesn't want to play less. I think with Polie back in the lineup that will slow down ... We're not taking a ton of penalties anyway."
Hainsey averages 21:53 of ice time per game.
Lines at Monday's practice
Forwards
Hyman-Matthews-Brown
Marleau-Kadri-Komarov
van Riemsdyk-Nylander-Marner
Martin-Moore-Leivo
Soshnikov
Absent: Bozak (illness)
Defencemen
Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Borgman-Polak
Carrick
Goalies
Andersen
McElhinney