Which Maple Leafs to cheer for, for long-suffering patrons at Scotiabank Arena on Friday night?
Debuting goaltender Jack Campbell, in his eventful 5-4 overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks?
New buzzsaw forward Kyle Clifford, who actually did get a roar when his first minor roughing penalty was announced for coming to Campbell’s aid in a crease mash-up?
Jason Spezza turning on his 36-year-old afterburners for the night’s prettiest goal?
Or, how about Auston Matthews’ career-high tying 40th of the year, part of a monster game on both sides of the puck. It tied Matthews with the idle Alexander Ovechkin for first place in the NHL’s Rocket Richard Trophy race. He, Mitch Marner and John Tavares had 10 points.
But it was down to Tavares’ power-play strike with 6.2 seconds to go in the extra period before anyone could really celebrate — and even then Sheldon Keefe couldn’t sugarcoat two more blown leads late in the game.
“Concern is probably a stretch, but I’m disappointed,” the coach said. “The fact we were set up again in the third (ahead two goals against a team that played Thursday) and right from the drop of the puck, we were on our heels. It seems they’re lacking confidence in those situations, expecting something bad to happen.”
So, welcome to life with the Leafs, Jack, even if he had a better fate than Michael Hutchinson. Campbell was more unlucky than unsteady as the Ducks bagged three in the third. But he stopped 14 of the first 15 shots and made a few others to hold Toronto in.
“That’s a tough game when you give up the lead like that and unacceptable on my end, but what a resilient group,” Campbell bubbled. “The boys played really well in front of me. I got caught watching the guys making (offensive) plays.
“Great energy in this building, so much fun, even the music they play. When we score, it’s awesome. Any time you score five, that should be a win. I’ve got to clean up my game and move on to a big one tomorrow.”
Campbell said he’s ready to go back-to-back against the Canadiens in Montreal, with Frederik Andersen’s neck woes still grounding him, though the latter is back on the ice. Keefe said a starter hasn’t been decided.
William Nylander’s status is also up in the air after he was too sick to play Friday or fly after the game. If he wakes up feeling better, he could still travel to Montreal.
Keefe put Clifford in the starting lineup as well as Campbell, a nod to family in the stands for both men.
“I didn’t expect that, but once the game gets going, you block out distractions,” Clifford said.
What the crowd really loved was Clifford rushing into a second-period scrum after Campbell was knocked down in his crease. He went after big Ryan Getzlaf, not the author of the hit, but a symbolic target nonetheless. The announcement of Clifford’s minor was well- received in the stands, though his later holding-the -stick minor, not so much.
Clifford’s bare head in warmup was easy to spot among a Leafs team that all follow the NHL’s suggested protocol to keep helmets on. Matthews joked it must have been “a power move” to get the Ducks attention, while Clifford shrugged that it was simply his preference. He also loved the SBA vibe, which hasn’t always been sympathetic to the home side’s plight this season.
“Outstanding. You can tell they’re the best fans in the world, they’re rock stars,” he said. “They’re into the game, know what’s going on and they’re a passionate group.”
It was quite so in the last minute of regulation, when Ducks’ Derek Grant tied it on a 6-on-5 scramble, which un-did what Matthews called a “vintage Spezza goal”, beating a defenceman and faking out goalie Ryan Miller for a far-side strike.
Campbell’s first save at SBA, off the dangerous Getzlaf, brought cheers meant for the ears of general manager Dubas and the unfortunate Hutchinson, relegated to the end of the Leafs bench.
Matthews unleashed No. 40, a snapper, on Ryan Miller, who is the NHL’s active leader in wins against Toronto with 33.
“It means a lot,” Matthews said. “You take the good and the bad. You don’t want to get in that position (fumbling a late lead), but we have to snap out of that.”
Campbell got a taste of how the Leafs messed up life for his predecessors. Both Anaheim pressure and unforced Leafs errors made him a busy man.
A short-handed goal by Max Jones and one by Anaheim’s 31st-ranked power play via Adam Henrique, tied it. Andreas Johnsson and Tavares’ first on the night sandwiched Nic Deslauriers’ goal for Anaheim early on.
Toronto opened up a lead in the second, Zach Hyman poking the puck away behind the Anaheim net to Matthews and on to Tavares for his third in as many games.
But the Matthews Express is the sidebar to watch whether the Leafs finish in a playoff spot or not. He has 27 games to reach 50 for the first time by a Leaf since 1993-94 and possibly Rick Vaive’s club record of 54, not to mention battling Ovie in the goals race.
Anaheim had to play much of Friday without defenceman Erik Gudbranson, who left with an upper body injury, then Jake Muzzin, another former King, knocked the wind out of Ondrej Kase, just before getting the second assist on Spezza’s goal.
