On a night that Michael Hutchinson continued to get his swagger back, Kasperi Kapanen’s took a hit.
While Hutchinson was doing his part to help the Maple Leafs beat the Ottawa Senators in overtime on Saturday night, Kapanen watched from the press box, a healthy scratch for what coach Sheldon Keefe called “internal accountability.”
Keefe refused to elaborate on Kapanen’s benching, saying the player would address the issue with media on Monday after the Leafs’ day off on Sunday.
“It’s a one-time thing,” Keefe said. “You guys will get a chance to talk to Kappy on Monday.
“We had chatted about it (Friday) a little bit and then made our decision. I wanted to sleep on it, we talked with Kappy (Saturday) morning and made a decision and went from there.”
Speculation was that Kapanen — whose name has popped up in trade rumours with the NHL’s deadline on Feb. 24 looming — was late for practice on Friday or missed a team meeting. It was the first game of the 2019-20 season that Kapanen did not play.
It was intriguing that the Leafs were willing to let the issue linger until Monday, rather than have Kapanen address it on Saturday night.
Still, good on Keefe for putting the team ahead of the player.
As it turned out, the Leafs managed okay without Kapanen, getting a power-play goal from Mitch Marner at 3:54 of the extra period to beat the Senators 2-1 before a crowd of 19,406.
In winning for the third time in three games since the bye week ended, the Leafs moved back into third place in the Atlantic Division with 63 points, two up on the Florida Panthers. The Panthers will be in Toronto for a rather large match against the Leafs on Monday night.
Hutchinson made 24 saves, winning his fourth start in a row and perhaps putting to rest the idea that GM Kyle Dubas needs to upgrade the position behind No. 1 goalie Frederik Andersen.
“Sharp, confident, we had breakdowns and he was there when they had a couple looks,” Keefe said of Hutchinson. “He was at the top of his crease, he was confident, he was aggressive. He just looked like he was out there to win the game for us and that’s what you want to see.”
Hutchinson had a couple of rough outings in relief of Andersen in January, but has not lost a start since the end of November. He was awarded the Raptors basketball in the post-game celebration in the dressing room.
“I feel like I’ve been positive all year, even at the start when things weren’t going well,” Hutchinson said. “Just kept working hard. Now that bounces are going our way a little bit and the team is playing great, we have a lot of confidence and our whole team has that swagger back.”
With Kapanen out, Keefe moved Jason Spezza to the wing on the third line with centre Pierre Engvall and Andreas Johnsson, and inserted Dmytro Timashov into the lineup to play on the fourth line with Frederik Gauthier and Trevor Moore.
After defenceman Mark Borowiecki gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 6:08 of the second period when his shot from the point got past a screened Hutchinson, the Leafs netminder made top-notch saves on Chris Tierney and Brady Tkachuk.
Spezza, in his first game on the Leafs side of the Battle of Ontario, used his patented shot to tie the game during a Toronto power play at 10:41. Spezza took a pass from Rasmus Sandin and ripped a shot over the left shoulder of Sens goalie Craig Anderson, who barely flinched.
The goal was Spezza’s eighth of the season in 40 games, equalling his output in each of the past two seasons with Dallas, when he played in 78 games and 76 games respectively.
Spezza acknowledged that playing in Toronto has lived up to his expectations (though we would add Spezza might have felt differently until Nov. 20, the day Mike Babcock was fired and Keefe took over).
“I really appreciate the Original Six, the history behind it, the nostalgia of Saturday night games,” Spezza said. “I enjoy that. Just the fact that we’re a team trying to establish ourselves and become a real contender has been exciting for me, it gives you a purpose and it gives you a role and it has been enjoyable so far.”
LOOSE LEAFS
Marner on his one-timer from the slot: “I don’t think anyone really thinks I’m going to shoot that. Luckily, it went in.” … William Nylander’s second five-game goal-scoring streak of the season came to an end … Leafs captain John Tavares had the fan base wringing its hands when he departed the game for a chunk of the first period. Later, Tavares said it was an ankle issue and that he was fine … Spezza has been hearing for years that he should use his lethal shot more often. “My whole life I’ve been told I’ve got to shoot the puck more,” Spezza said. “You take what’s there.” … Defenceman Travis Dermott missed the game with an illness and was replaced by Martin Marincin on a pair with Tyson Barrie … This was Auston Matthews’ take on Spezza’s shot: “I find it’s really deceptive. He can look you off, make a pass or fake like he’s passing and shoot it. He has that long stick and he just snaps it really well. It’s pretty impressive.” … Anderson had a fine evening for Ottawa, stopping 34 Leafs shots.
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