After the Toronto Maple Leafs snapped a three-game losing slide with a thrilling 4-3 overtime win to tie this week’s series at 1-1, the rubber match against the Winnipeg Jets airs tonight on Hockey Night in Canada (7 p.m. EST, CBC).
Remarkably, Auston Matthews, despite battling through a wrist injury that is keeping him from shooting anywhere near 100%, is in the midst of another scoring streak with three goals in his last two games.
The fact that he’s remained an elite scoring threat, even when his opponents are now aware of his limitations, is indicative of how dominant Matthews’ boundless offensive repertoire has become. It is rare to ever see Matthews pass up an opportunity to shoot, especially when he has space in the middle of the ice as he did in the example below:
Muzzin ends up with a decent attempt on goal here, but it’s a situation that would normally play out with Matthews using the defender as a screen to pick a corner or force Hellebuyck into a great save.
Despite Matthews’ limitations, Sheldon Keefe doesn’t seem to think the team is risking anything by continuing to play him:
Medically, from what they’ve told me, it’s something that can get better even while he’s playing — that’s why he’s continuing to play. Obviously, when you get rest, it helps the cause but I think he and the medical team have been handling it very well.
To start tonight, Matthews will play with Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman. There are a few things at play with Hyman replacing Joe Thornton on the top line from the start:
The Leafs have trailed in both games versus the Jets and then moved Hyman up, which has been Keefe’s go-to adjustment throughout the season when the team is playing from behind. In such an important game/series, that’s a trend the Leafs need to reverse. Trailing hockey is often losing hockey, and it leaves the team vulnerable to the Jets’ dangerous counter-punching ability as the Leafs push to even up the game.
It helps boost a Matthews-Marner duo that isn’t quite as threatening as usual given Matthews’ shooting limitations.
Hyman, in his last five games, leads the team in individual xG/60 and is the only player on the team without a giveaway. There is no doubt he is worthy of top-line minutes right now more than ever.
Presumably, Thornton will join John Tavares and William Nylander, meaning Alex Kerfoot will join the third line. While he’s missed a lot of time, featuring in only 16 games thus far, Thornton sits 4th on the team in Regularized-Adjusted-Plus-Minus (RAPM) xGA/60 and first in CA/60. Even when he hasn’t been scoring, he usually makes the right play with the puck and his defensive acumen/hockey sense ensures he’s no burden on any line.
The fit next to Tavares is a worthwhile experiment, as his playmaking ability next to two players who can shoot — and on a line that plays at a more methodical and less breakneck pace — seems like a stylistic match.
The only other change for Toronto will be Travis Boyd, unsurprisingly, replacing Kenny Agostino on the bottom line. Agostino played a mere 4:08 last game as the Leafs played a large percentage of the game hunting for a goal.
As the Jets search for the optimal deployment of their impressive top-six forwards, newly-acquired Pierre-Luc Dubois linemates Kyle Connor and Nik Ehlers have been big offensive producers as of late. Both players have two goals and four assists in six games since the beginning of March, while the duo of Mark Schiefele and Blake Wheeler are the team leaders in on-ice xGF/60, with six and four points in those game, respectively.
The Leafs have controlled both games so far, but the danger of this group of forwards if the Leafs aren’t managing the puck properly and limiting odd-man rushes against has been clear to see in the season series to date.
After Connor Hellebucyk pulled off another fantastic performance on Thursday despite the Leafs scoring four times, much to the delight of the Maple Leafs, backup Laurent Brossoit will start for Winnipeg tonight. Brossoit is 4-1-1 on the season with a .923 Sv% and a GSAx of 2.3. Frederik Andersen is expected to start tonight before Michael Hutchinson presumably gets the nod tomorrow against Ottawa.
Game Day Quotes
Sheldon Keefe on Zach Hyman’s game lately:
I don’t think there’s much to say about Hyman that hasn’t already been said. The work ethic that he has and the consistency that he brings with it, in addition to the confidence that he brings now with the puck and hang onto [it], just adds a whole other layer that makes him a very tough player to handle for the opposition.
Keefe on what went “wrong” with Mikko Lehtonen:
Not having exhibition games really made it difficult for any incoming player to get the chance to sort of get the bugs out and adjust to the league, show what they can do, earn some additional trust — all those things. We think, all things considered, we adjusted to the situation and gave him an opportunity to play in the top six. We had Travis Dermott on the outside through training camp, and just made a decision that [Lehtonen] needed more time. That’s how it’s worked out.
He’s definitely a talent and he worked really hard here and waited for his chance. I think, at the same time, we’ve got a number of other people in the organization that didn’t get the opportunity that Mikko had this season. It’ll open up more space and opportunity for them.
At the same time, [Dubas] is able to find a place for Mikko to go — he’s an unrestricted free agent here at the end of the year. It’s a big year for him, so I think there’s something to be said for that as well. We wish him all the best.
Paul Maurice on his group performing poorly in shot- and chance-based metrics:
There’s a whole bunch of different ways the puck can get to your net from that area. I think your opponent has something to do with it. There are teams that generate a lot of slot shots that you never consider particularly dangerous — those are just on the outside, poor angle shots [where] a rebound doesn’t happen.
What you don’t like are the slot shots that you don’t control. Every team has strengths and weaknesses — there are teams that do a really good job of controlling that slot, but they don’t win a lot of games, and then there are teams that win on that alone. You take a look at what your group is, what you’re good at, and where you excel. For us, that’s a challenge. We’ve known that for a while, and the advantage is we’ll score some goals without having a ton of slot shots.
The offense that we do produce, it’s not from throwing pucks at the net all the time, but there are teams that do that. We’ve got more risk in our game than other teams, possibly, and we’re trying to get that right balance in to try to give our goalies a chance to be as good as they are.
Maurice on what the Leafs do well in the offensive zone:
They do a real good job of creating a problem for you before the puck gets to the slot. You look at a lot of the one-on-one play that happens down low, and we want to have layers with that. We don’t want to be man-to-man in the corners where a guy can spin out. They make those plays, and there’s a skill to it.
The other thing to it is: There’s a real willingness on that team now that maybe we didn’t see in years past to go to the net. It holds the [defenseman] and turns it into a four-on-four game, which they really excel at. Looking at the areas that we need to improve, they’re very strong in those areas.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards #11 Zach Hyman – #34 Auston Matthews – #16 Mitch Marner #97 Joe Thornton – #91 John Tavares – #88 William Nylander #65 Ilya Mikheyev – #47 Pierre Engvall – #15 Alex Kerfoot #26 Jimmy Vesey – #72 Travis Boyd – #19 Jason Spezza
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — DeMar DeRozan scored 27 points in a record-setting performance and the Sacramento Kings beat the Toronto Raptors 122-107 on Wednesday night.
Domantas Sabonis added 17 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds for his third triple-double of the season for Sacramento. He shot 6 for 6 from the field and 5 for 5 at the free-throw line.
Keegan Murray chipped in with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and De’Aaron Fox scored 21.
The 35-year-old DeRozan has scored at least 20 points in each of his first eight games with the Kings, breaking a franchise mark established by Chris Webber when he reached 20 in his first seven games with Sacramento in 1999.
DeRozan spent the past three seasons with the Chicago Bulls. The six-time All-Star also has played for Toronto and San Antonio during his 16-year NBA career.
RJ Barrett had 23 points to lead the Raptors. Davion Mitchell scored 20 in his first game in Sacramento since being traded to Toronto last summer.
Takeaways
Raptors: Toronto led for most of the first three quarters before wilting in the fourth. The Raptors were outscored 33-14 in the final period.
Kings: Fox played strong defense but struggled again shooting from the floor as he is dealing with a finger injury. Fox went 5 for 17 and just 2 of 8 on 3-pointers. He is 5 for 25 from beyond the arc in his last three games.
Key moment
The Kings trailed 95-89 early in the fourth before going on a 9-0 run that gave them the lead for good. DeRozan started the spurt with a jumper, and Malik Monk scored the final seven points.
Key stat
Sabonis had the eighth game in the NBA since at least 1982-83 with a triple-double while missing no shots from the field or foul line. The previous player to do it was Josh Giddey for Oklahoma City against Portland on Jan. 11.
Up next
Raptors: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night, the third stop on a five-game trip.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps are one win away from moving on to the next round of the Major League Soccer playoffs.
To get there, however, the Whitecaps will need to pull off the improbable by defeating the powerhouse Los Angeles FC for a second straight game.
Vancouver blanked the visitors 3-0 on Sunday to level their best-of-three first-round playoff series at a game apiece. As the matchup shifts back to California for a decisive Game 3 on Friday, the Whitecaps are looking for a repeat performance, said striker Brian White.
“We take the good and the bad from last game, learn from what we could have done better and go to LAFC with confidence and, obviously, with a whole lot of respect,” he said.
“We know that we can go there and give them a very good fight and hopefully come away with a win.”
The winner of Friday’s game will face the No. 4-seed Seattle Sounders in a one-game Western Conference semifinal on Nov. 23 or 24.
The ‘Caps finished the regular season eighth in the west with a 13-13-8 record and have since surprised many with their post-season play.
First, Vancouver trounced its regional rivals, the Portland Timbers, 5-0 in a wild-card game. Then, the squad dropped a tightly contested 2-1 decision to the top-seeded L.A. before posting a decisive home victory on Sunday.
Vancouver has scored seven goals this post-season, second only to the L.A. Galaxy (nine). Vancouver also leads the league in expected goals (6.84) through the playoffs.
No one outside of the club expected the Whitecaps to win when the Vancouver-L. A. series began, said defender Ranko Veselinovic.
“We’ve shown to ourselves that we can compete with them,” he said.
Now in his fifth season with the ‘Caps, Veselinovic said Friday’s game will be the biggest he’s played for the team.
“We haven’t had much success in the playoffs so, definitely, this is the one that can put our season on another level,” he said.
This is the second year in a row the Whitecaps have faced LAFC in the first round of the playoffs and last year, Vancouver was ousted in two straight games.
The team isn’t thinking about revenge as it prepares for Game 3, White said.
“More importantly than (beating LAFC), we want to get to the next round,” he said. “LAFC’s a very good team. We’ve come up against them a number of times in different competitions and they always seem to get the better of us. So it’d be huge for us to get the better of them this time.”
Earning a win last weekend required slowing L.A.’s transition game and limiting offensive opportunities for the team’s big stars, including Denis Bouanga.
Those factors will be important again on Friday, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini, who warned that his team could face a different style of game.
“I think the most important thing is going to be to match their intensity at the beginning of the game,” he said. “Because I think they’re going to come at us a million miles per hour.”
The ‘Caps will once again look to captain Ryan Gauld for some offensive firepower. The Scottish attacking midfielder leads MLS in playoff goals with five and has scored in all three of Vancouver’s post-season appearances this year.
Gearing up for another do-or-die matchup is exciting, Gauld said.
“Knowing it’s a winner-takes-all kind of game, being in that kind of environment is nice,” he said. “It’s when you see the best in players.”
LAFC faces the bulk of the pressure heading into the matchup, Sartini said, given the club’s appearances in the last two MLS Cup finals and its 2022 championship title.
“They’re supposed to win and we are not,” the coach said. “But it’s beautiful to have a little bit of pressure on us, too.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
Each PWHL team operated under its city name, with players wearing jerseys featuring the league’s logo in its inaugural season before names and logos were announced last month.
The Toronto Sceptres, Montreal Victoire, Ottawa Charge, Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost and New York Sirens will start the PWHL’s second season on Nov. 30 with jerseys designed to reflect each team’s identity and to be sold to the public as replicas.
Led by PWHL vice-president of brand and marketing Kanan Bhatt-Shah, the league consulted Creative Agency Flower Shop to design the jerseys manufactured by Bauer, the PWHL said Thursday in a statement.
“Players and fans alike have been waiting for this moment and we couldn’t be happier with the six unique looks each team will don moving forward,” said PWHL senior vice president of business operations Amy Scheer.
“These jerseys mark the latest evolution in our league’s history, and we can’t wait to see them showcased both on the ice and in the stands.”
Training camps open Tuesday with teams allowed to carry 32 players.
Each team’s 23-player roster, plus three reserves, will be announced Nov. 27.
Each team will play 30 regular-season games, which is six more than the first season.
Minnesota won the first Walter Cup on May 29 by beating Boston three games to two in the championship series.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
