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Maple Leafs News & Rumors: Tavares, Matthews, Andersen & More – The Hockey Writers

Published

4 years ago

January 31, 2021

In what was one of the best hockey games I’ve seen in a long time, the Toronto Maple Leafs lost in overtime to the Edmonton Oilers 4-3. I know I’ve been accused by readers of being a homer – that is for being entirely too optimistic and positive about the Maple Leafs. However, I think the end result of this game was fair. Then, again, it would have also fair if William Nylander had scored on his first rush down the ice to begin the overtime period.

The Maple Leafs and the Oilers played the fast-paced game most fans expected the first time Edmonton rolled into Toronto on Jan. 20. The Oilers won that game 3-1, but it was an entirely different game. That game was boring: not last night’s.

Saturday’s game was fast-paced and filled with highly-skilled players making skilled hockey moves. It’s what we all expect and hope to see from two high-flying teams like the Oilers and the Maple Leafs.

I wasn’t disappointed with the result, and I have to think other Maple Leafs’ fans enjoyed the game as well. It was perfect that it went to overtime, and it was also almost as perfect that the great Connor McDavid scored his second goal of the game on a rush with his high-scoring partner Leon Draisaitl less than a minute into the extra period. McDavid was magic the entire game.

Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Ross D. Franklin)

Granted for Maple Leafs’ fans, it might have been better if that game-ending partnership were Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews; however, no one should feel bad about this game I think.

Item One: Maple Leafs’ Successes on Saturday’s Game

The Maple Leafs goal scorers were Matthews, Nylander, and Zach Hyman. After a bullet point shot from newcomer second-unit power-play quarterback Mikko Lehtonen that John Tavares tipped to the goalie’s left, Hyman then swept in the loose puck into the open side past a screened goalie. It was a good play by all three Maple Leafs’ players and good quickness by Hyman.

Maple Leafs’ captain Tavares added two assists in the game; and, goalie Frederik Andersen might have actually played better than the score sheet will show by making 27 saves even though he also let in four goals. The two goals McDavid scored were simply unstoppable.

Although I usually don’t do game reviews per se in my posts and focus more on game commentary, this game simply was too good not to review a bit. However, in the remainder of this edition of Maple Leafs’ News & Rumors, I’ll stick to commentary to share news that emerged from last night’s game and other team notes going into the future.

Item Two: John Tavares Is on a Point-a-Game Pace for the Season

John Tavares is playing well. During last night’s game, he added two assists to his season’s total and now has four goals and six assists for 10 points in his 10 games. He also seems to be winning timely draws in the team’s offensive end, and his face-off percentage for the season is over 60 percent.

For Maple Leafs’ players who have taken a large number of draws, only Jason Spezza (62.7 percent) has a higher percentage. Spezza’s season has been highly-productive given his limited ice time. He’s averaging less than 10 minutes per fame and has scored a goal and four assists (for five points) in the nine games he’s played.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Jason Spezza (THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jeffrey T. Barnes)

After a strong scoring start to the season, Tavares had a four-game stretch where he’d only registered a single assist; however, he added three assists in his last two games. Of Tavares’ 10 points, six have been on the power play. The Maple Leafs have been the North Division’s top team so far this season and their captain has been a big part of their success.

Item Three: Auston Matthews’ Goal-Scoring Streak Has Reached Five Fames

I have two thoughts about Matthews’ goal in Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Oilers.

First, it shows how well he and his line-mate Mitch Marner work together. They have a chemistry that is regularly visible. Who would have thought Matthews would pass to Marner when he had a good chance to shoot? Then, who would have thought that Marner would have given the puck back to Matthews so quickly? It was a great hockey play, and Oilers’ goalie Mikko Koskinen was helpless.

Toronto Maple Leafs Mitchell Marner and Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette)

Second, Matthews has an amazing shot. On this goal, he placed the puck exactly over Koskinen’s shoulder from what seemed like an impossible angle close to the goal line. It could not have been more perfect. With that goal, Matthews pushed his goal-scoring streak to five games. Could he actually score 50 goals during this shortened season?

Item Four: Frederik Andersen’s Winning Steak Snapped at Three

Frederik Andersen let in four goals on 31 shots in the team’s overtime loss. With that loss, his record is currently 5-2-1 with a goals-against-average of 3.01 and a save percentage of .892. Although Andersen had posted a 2-0-1 record over his previous three games, his save percentage was never reached .900. Fortunately, he’d received almost four points (3.8) per game from his team.

Frederik Andersen, Toronto Maple Leafs (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

Andersen seems to be a slow starter, no matter when his NHL season starts. The Maple Leafs won’t play again until Thursday night against the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks are a team Andersen’s had success against. During the 2019-20 season, he had a 2-0-0 with a goals-against-average of 1.50 and save percentage of .955 in two games against them.

What’s Next for the Maple Leafs?

The Maple Leafs Maple Leafs had come into Saturday night’s game after a positive road trip, having won four games in a row against good teams. Although the team lost last night’s game, it still gained a point on the Montreal Canadiens who lost 2-0 to the Calgary Flames. It was the Canadiens’ first loss this season in regulation. The Maple Leafs now lead the NHL’s North Division with a 7-2-1 record.

What’s been interesting for me to watch is head coach Sheldon Keefe’s roll out of depth players. He seems to be revolving his younger bottom-six players, sometimes sitting one and replacing that player for a game with another. It seems this season’s roster has more quality depth than I’ve seen during the last few seasons. Furthermore, the depth players seem able to contribute when called upon.

If I’m correct, the team’s depth might turn out to be positive as the team moves through the season.

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Sports

Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.

The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.

Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.

In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.

The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.

Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.

Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.

Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.

He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.

The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.

Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.

He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.

George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.

Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.

In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.

St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

ON DECK

Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.

The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Stampeders return to Maier at QB eyeing chance to get on track against Alouettes

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.

It won’t be an easy assignment.

Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.

“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”

Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.

“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”

Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.

After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.

“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”

Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.

“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.

A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.

“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”

But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.

“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”

Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”

“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.

Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.

“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”

While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.

“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”

The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.

“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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