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Why Maple Leafs’ top line may be the most complete in hockey – Sportsnet.ca

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One line.

One half period.

One more denial of a contender to the throne.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs’ best line smothered the Winnipeg Jets early and often Wednesday night to extend their lead atop the Canadian division to three points and into a fourth month.

Funny. Much of the pre-game discussion for Round 5 of Jets-Leafs circled around line matchups. How Paul Maurice’s last change and ability to throw bubble-burster Pierre-Luc Dubois and responsible veterans Blake Wheeler and Paul Stastny over the boards against Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman could be the solution.

“That’s really what the regular season is all about, right?” Maurice had said, regarding his personnel adjustments, those tiny tweaks that can unlock the recipe to solving a specific opponent. “You have to understand your team by the time the regular season is over.”

But the way Hyman-Matthews-Marner steamrolled a tired Jets squad, we’re not sure any combination of players could’ve contained them.

Before a game billed as a battle for first place was 11 minutes old, Matthews and Hyman had each scored, Marner pocketed himself another gif-worthy setup, and all three had themselves two-point nights as the Leafs cruised to 3-1 victory.

“We were just thinking about our game and how important it is to get out to a lead,” Hyman said. “They’re a really good team, so we wanted to jump on them quick.”

Mission accomplished.

Caught flat-footed in their first game date after a seven-game road trip, the Jets were beset with both insult and injury in the first period and never recovered. Dubois trucked over defenceman Derek Forbort during a sloppy D-zone sequence that resulted in Matthews cleaning up a Hyman rebound. And Wheeler departed the game with an undisclosed injury. (Clarity on the severity of Wheeler’s condition will wait “a couple days,” per Maurice.)

“They came out hard,” summed up defenceman Josh Morrissey. “We lost the first period, and we ended up losing the game.”

Morrissey, the Jets’ lone goal-getter, found twine while T.J. Brodie served a double minor for high-sticking Stastny’s tooth out of his gums. But Alexander Kerfoot sniped top-shelf on a speedy shorthanded breakaway to even out the special teams.

Maurice’s squad was shut out at even strength, and Friday’s rematch will be another opportunity to learn what works and what doesn’t.

It should now be understood that his counterpart, Sheldon Keefe, will rely exclusively on Hyman-Matthews-Marner as his default top trio. The trial of 41-year-old Joe Thornton as a top-line winger shrinks further in the rear-view mirror.

In their 10:37 together, Hyman-Matthews-Marner not only scored twice but generated 98.4 per cent of expected goals and created eight high-danger scoring chances while allowing none. Hyman, causing turnovers and driving the blue paint all night, had six shots himself in the first period.

“Those two are superstars. I just try to go out and do my job,” Hyman demurred.

Such dominance is all the more impressive when you realize they started the majority of their shifts in the defensive zone and were called upon to lock up the Jets’ final six-on-five push.

“They had a lot of jump. They were around the puck, and they attacked the net. That’s the source of two goals for us. Nothing too fancy about it. Just work from all three of them,” Keefe said. “Those three guys really came out and were really driven to make a difference.”

On the season, Hyman-Matthews-Marner has now outscored its opposition 18-8 when together. Marner (plus-18), Hyman (plus-17) and Matthews (plus-14) ranks one-two-three in team plus/minus. All three rank top 10 league-wide among forwards in the category.

“[Matthews and Marner] have been really good defensively right from the start of the season,” Keefe said. “Both guys have really worked, really focused on it. Pretty much every night they’re playing against the other team’s best players. Often these are some of the best players in the world. Here tonight again very similar, and those guys do the job.”

A question worth asking: Is this the best 200-foot line in the NHL?

“I just think as incredible as they look offensively, it’s amazing how strong players they are and how hard they work defensively and coming back and the little plays they make. All of them come back, take pucks away, stick checking, taking the body. They just make amazing plays,” said goalie Jack Campbell, improving his perfect record to 7-0-0.

“Mitchy is one of the best penalty killers I’ve ever seen. He’s so smart out there. And for them to play together, they just seem to have amazing chemistry and have amazing results.”

Campbell’s own results aren’t so shabby.

His save percentage is a sparkling .948, and he’s allowed two goals or fewer in six of his seven scattered starts — all while battling a leg injury that had him squeezing in extra work with goalie coach Steve Briere prior to the Leafs charter to Manitoba Tuesday.

“As a competitor and a teammate, I feel bad sometimes I get days off when the other guys are grinding. It puts more fire in my belly to perform when I’m called upon,” said Campbell, forever plumbing the positive from the well of adversity.

“I mean, I’m playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s pretty cool. So, nothing to be bitter about any time. I’m pretty lucky and spoiled to be here. Get to hang out with a bunch of cool dudes and play some hockey, so it’s not a bad time.”

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Allen on trade to Devils from Habs: 'Sometimes you've got to be a little bit selfish' – Yahoo Canada Sports

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Jake Allen loved being a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

The hockey-mad market, the crackling Bell Centre on a Saturday night, the Original Six franchise’s iconic logo.

The 33-year-old goaltender is also realistic.

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With the Canadiens still in full rebuild mode — and two young netminders in Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau ready for more playing time — Allen could see the writing on the wall.

Desperate for help in their own crease, the New Jersey Devils asked Montreal about the veteran’s availability. But the team, general manager Tom Fitzgerald told reporters earlier this month, was initially on Allen’s no-trade list.

There wasn’t anything the Fredericton product disliked about the organization or city. The Devils simply appeared to have their crease set for years to come.

But when the club that finished with 112 points and made the second round of the playoffs in 2022-23 was badly hampered by poor play from Vitek Vanecek, Nico Daws and Akira Schmid — each netminder owned save percentages below .900 — the Devils circled back.

And Allen had changed his tune.

“Loved my time as a Hab,” he said of pulling on Montreal’s red, white and blue threads. “I always will cherish that. Put on probably the most special jersey in hockey, in my books. But you realize in your career, it doesn’t last forever.

“You’ve got to make decisions sometimes.”

Allen, who is signed through next season, eventually agreed to a deal that sent him to New Jersey ahead of the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline for a conditional third-round pick at the 2025 draft.

Apart from playing meaningful hockey on a team trying to claw its way back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, the swap gave him more runway to get his family settled in a new city instead of waiting to see what this summer’s crowded goalie market might bring.

“Sometimes you’ve got to be a little bit selfish,” said Allen, a Stanley Cup champion with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. “Look yourself in the mirror and wonder what’s best for you and your family.”

He’s been really good for his new team.

Allen was lights out in Tuesday’s first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs, making an eye-popping 25 saves in what would turn into New Jersey’s 6-3 victory.

So far he’s 4-2-0 with a .925 save percentage and a 2.51 goals against average in six starts for the Devils, who sit five points back of the East’s second wild-card spot.

“A real pro,” said interim head coach Travis Green.

Allen is a combined 10-14-3 in 2023-24 with a .900 save percentage and a 3.39 GAA. Across his 11 seasons with St. Louis, Montreal and now New Jersey, he’s 193-164-41 with a .908 save percentage and 2.75 GAA.

“Makes the saves we need to get some momentum back,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “If you have a solid goalie in the net, that makes your work easier.”

Allen is also 11-12 with a .924 and a 2.06 GAA all-time in the playoffs — a good sign for his new club should New Jersey manage to make the cut.

For now, though, he’s just enjoying being back in a post-season race.

“I thought this was a good opportunity to come in the rest of this year, play some games,” Allen said.

“It’s been a good start.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2024.

___

Follow @JClipperton_CP on X.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press

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Matthews game-time decision for Maple Leafs against Capitals with illness – NHL.com

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TORONTOAuston Matthews will be a game-time decision for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, MNMT) because of an illness.

“It’s going to be on how he feels throughout the day,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.

The forward did not participate in Toronto’s morning skate. Max Domi took his place as the center on a line between Tyler Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner, a right wing recovering from a high-ankle sprain sustained March 7 and will be out the next two games.

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Matthews leads the NHL with 59 goals, one from becoming the ninth player in NHL history with at least two 60-goal seasons. He scored 60 in 73 games in 2021-22, when he won the Rocket Richard Trophy, Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. He had one goal and nine shots in 23:44 of a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, which extended his point streak to five games (four goals, seven assists).

He missed one game this season with illness, a 7-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 16.

“Of course, it’s an adjustment when your best player is out of the lineup,” Domi said, “when anybody is out of the lineup, but I think we’ve done a great job all year of guys stepping up when they have to, and we just have to continue to do that.”

Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury.

“He just remains day to day,” Keefe said. “We’re hopeful he’s going to bounce back here. The one thing that is good is once he gets through this day or two here, it’s not going to be a lingering situation. It’s not going to be an injury that’s ongoing. Once he’s past it, he’s past it so we just need to give him some time.”

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Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list

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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.

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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.”

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