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
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.
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.
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.
