adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

Sports

KOSHAN: Maple Leafs, now home for a stretch, deked through trip with durability

Published

 on

Auston Matthews hit the nail on the head late on Tuesday night. 

“Feels like it has been a month of being on the road,” the Maple Leafs star said after Toronto beat New Jersey 4-3 in Newark.

It does seem like the Leafs have been away forever, doesn’t it? Of course, just 12 days will have passed on Thursday afternoon since Feb. 25, when the Leafs practised and departed Pearson for Seattle, where they opened their five-game trip with a 5-1 victory against the Kraken the following night. 

300x250x1
Perfection doesn’t exist, certainly not in professional sports, so expecting the Leafs to go 5-0 on the trip wouldn’t have been realistic. A 3-2 record looked better with the manner in which the Leafs beat the Devils. They didn’t wilt after the Devils were the better team in the first period, and they didn’t pack it in once the Devils took a one-goal lead midway through the third. 

This is what the Leafs are. Some will moan about the failure at times to properly squash teams below them in the standings, but the overriding fact is simple. The Leafs go about their business every night and usually check off the right boxes to ensure victory. They haven’t tripped into fourth place in the National Hockey League via fluke. 

Consider that the Leafs are 13-2-2 in games following a loss in regulation. Just twice this season they’ve lost in regulation in consecutive games. 

Consistency has been key, and yes, we can all point to it being the regular season and not the playoffs, but would you rather have the opposite or something less? Of course not.  

The Leafs, who had a well-earned day off on Wednesday, aren’t a team that stumbles and can’t get up. 

They were able to come home with a winning record on the trip as coach Sheldon Keefe pulled all of the trade puzzle pieces out of the box, trying to make them fit.

With 18 games remaining, there is plenty of time for Keefe to get it all right, though it is unfortunate he won’t have centre Ryan O’Reilly until, probably, the last handful of games before the playoffs.

OIL COUNTRY 

Speaking of teams on long trips, Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers will be finishing one when they pull into town to play the Leafs on Saturday. 

The Oilers started a week-long journey with a loss in Winnipeg, followed by a win in Buffalo. On Thursday, they will visit the Boston Bruins. 

As the Leafs begin a four-game home stand, Matt Murray will get the start in net against the Oilers, barring anything unforeseen in practice. 

As much as we think Ilya Samsonov should be the Leafs’ starter once the playoffs start, it’s on the shoulders of Murray to not only stay healthy, but also get his game in a good spot in the final weeks of the regular season. The game against the Oilers will be just his fourth in two months, and Murray will attempt to win for the first time since Jan. 11, when he was victorious against Nashville. 

Samsonov has provided his Leafs teammates with a chance to win just about every time it has been required. Murray’s wealth of experience is seen as a factor when the Leafs’ post-season starter is debated. Let’s see it on display as the final stretch continues.

WINNING FORMULA

Matthews’ goal in New Jersey was the 51st game-winner of his career, putting him fourth on the Leafs’ franchise list, one more than Ron Ellis. 

Mats Sundin holds the team record with 79, followed by Dave Keon with 63 and Frank Mahovlich with 55. 

It’s the number of games played, in comparison to those ahead of him, that further crystallizes Matthews’ value. It’s quite impressive, how quickly Matthews moved into the top four. 

Sundin played in 981 games for Toronto; Keon played in 1,062. Mahovlich skated in 720 games for the Leafs, Ellis in 1,034.

Matthews is nowhere near any of them, coming in at 464 games played. 

Among current Leafs, William Nylander is next with 32 game-winners, enough for 14th on the franchise list.

LOOSE LEAFS 

Jake McCabe’s play in the final minute in New Jersey, including a block just before time expired, was instrumental. If O’Reilly is the most important player general manager Kyle Dubas acquired prior to the trade deadline (and we think he is), McCabe is not far off. He’s a stabilizer and knows when to get physically involved. Even better, he’s under contract for the next two seasons at just $ 2 million US against the salary cap … Morgan Rielly and Pontus Holmberg share a birthday on Thursday. Rielly turns 29, Holmberg 24 … The last word goes to Samsonov, who knows how valuable he has been. “Right now I feel good,” Samsonov said after beating the Devils. “I think about playoff time, need to get ready for playoff and feel perfect, not injuries, not nothing.”

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list

Published

 on

The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.

“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.”

The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.

That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.

300x250x1

Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.

Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout.

The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League.

“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut

 

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford.

“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said.

Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday.

Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13.

The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.

Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.

“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Senators score 5 in 1st, cruise past Sabres

Published

 on

“I thought that we were ready to go,” Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. “We got some pucks at the net, we got people at the net. Took advantage of our opportunities and, I think, built a nice lead. And then I thought, in the third period, we continued again. Our goaltending was good. Made some key saves. But I thought we shut them down in the third period good.”

Shane Pinto had a goal and three assists, and Brady Tkachuk, Boris Katchouk, Jakob Chychrun and Drake Batherson each had a goal and an assist for the Senators (31-36-4), who have won three in a row. Korpisalo made 34 saves.

“If you want to win, you need balance,” Pinto said. “And we had that tonight and it’s going to be big for the back-to-back tomorrow (against the Chicago Blackhawks) to have that same thing. So, going to need all the guys on board.”

JJ Peterka and Connor Clifton scored for the Sabres (34-34-5), who have lost four of six. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on nine shots before he was replaced by Devon Levi, who made 31 saves in relief.

300x250x1

“We wanted, I guess, to play as individuals,” Clifton said. “I’m disappointed we let ‘Upie’ down, he’s the heart and soul of this team. He’s kept us in so many games, and just to not show up and play that careless style, give them freebies all over the place. … Yeah, obviously, the first 20 really dictated the rest of the game.”

Artem Zub gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:37 of the first period. He stuffed in a loose puck on the goal line after Katchouk’s shot was redirected by Mark Kastelic between Luukkonen’s pads.

Katchouk made it 2-0 at 4:56, tipping Parker Kelly’s shot from the top of the right face-off circle past Luukkonen.

“It’s keeping the consistency with good effort, right habits,” Katchouk said. “The small things matter so much in this game. And obviously, it worked out tonight with the tip. But kudos to my linemates. ‘Kels’ and ‘Kassy,’ they worked hard to get the puck as well. Those two battle hard every night as well. We feed off each other, and it’s good to play with them.”

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Vasilevskiy stops 23 as surging Lightning beat Bruins – Sportsnet.ca

Published

 on


* public_profileBlurb *

* public_displayName *

300x250x1

* public_name *
* public_gender *
* public_birthdate *
* public_emailAddress *
* public_address *
* public_phoneNumber *

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending