Laughton vows to be better after tough Leafs debut: 'Can't wait to show it'
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The Maple Leafs held an optional skate at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday.
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Scott Laughton called himself out for a poor performance in his Leafs debut.
"Didn't think I was good enough," the team's new third-line centre reiterated on Monday. "I got better and can't wait to show it."
The 30-year-old from Oakville, Ont. gets his next chance on Monday night as Toronto wraps up a road trip in Utah.
Laughton was on the ice for three of Colorado's goals in a 7-4 loss on Saturday.
"He did some real good things in the game," Leafs coach Craig Berube stressed. "There's mistakes. There's mistakes in every game from everybody."
There are also mitigating factors. After learning that the Flyers had traded him, Laughton flew from Philadelphia to the high-altitude of Denver on Friday. Laughton then played without having had a practice or even a morning skate with his new team.
"He is hard on himself," said Berube, who also coached Laughton with the Flyers. "Always has been...He's got to just pull back a little bit with that and just play. Play hard. You know, control what you can control...his effort, his battle, things like that, and he'll get comfortable with the systems and comfortable with his linemates in a short time."
Laughton's new teammates appreciated his instant accountability despite the extenuating circumstances.
"It just shows he's a competitor and he wants to win," said winger Bobby McMann. "That's the exact type of guy that we want in here, and not accepting any sort of poor play...It's hard to come in with a new team. I thought he was competing hard and that's all you can ask from a guy...I'm sure he's going to keep getting better."
Laughton is indeed feeling better after going through his first full practice with the Leafs on Sunday.
"A lot better," he confirmed. "Having a dinner [with teammates] and practice yesterday and some sleep definitely helped."
How long will it take Laughton and defenceman Brandon Carlo, who was also acquired in a deadline deal on Friday, to get settled with their new team?
"It's not just going to happen overnight," Berube said. "It's going to take a little bit of time for a guy like Carlo to form some chemistry with his partner [Morgan Rielly] and get comfortable with the systems and things like that, and same as Laughts. You know, I don't really have a number on it."
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Laughton started Saturday's game on a line with McMann and Max Domi.
"I love the way he sees the ice," said Laughton of Domi. "He's always looking. He's a really smart player and he's got some bite to him, so it's fun to play with. We'll keep building, and keep building our game together, and hopefully we stay together and have some success."
The pair also played minor hockey together in the Toronto area. They actually go back even further than that.
"We learned to skate together," Laughton said with a grin. "He was three. I was four. We were doing C-cuts and everything like that, edges, so we've known each other for quite some time. He would get called up to our Marlies team when I played there. It's nice to have that comfortability with someone."
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Joseph Woll gets the start on Monday and is looking to bounce back after allowing three goals on seven shots and getting pulled for the first time in his NHL career on Wednesday in Vegas.
"We've been rotating here for a while and I don't really see a reason to change it right now," Berube explained.
Woll missed a scheduled start on Feb. 28 due to an illness, but other than that the Leafs have rotated between goalies ever since Anthony Stolarz returned from a knee injury on Feb. 6.
Stolarz, who allowed a season high five goals in Colorado, will start Thursday's home game against the Florida Panthers, who lead the Leafs by four points in the race for top spot in the Atlantic Division.
Karel Vejmelka gets the start for the Utah Hockey Club on Monday. He's feeling a lot more at ease since signing a five-year extension last week.
"It's pretty important to me and now I just need to clear my mind and focus on what I do the best," the 28-year-old from Czechia said.
Auston Matthews has three goals in four career games against Vejmelka.
"I don't really care who is on the other side," Vejmelka said when asked about facing the three time Rocket Richard Trophy winner. "I just want to stop every puck so I don't really care about it."
Vejmelka is 3-2-0 with a .915 save percentage against the Leafs.
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After sitting out Saturday's game as a healthy scratch and skating as an extra at Sunday's practice, Calle Jarnkrok will be back in the Leafs lineup on Monday night. It will be his third game since returning from the groin and hernia surgery he underwent in October.
"He's been out a long time with an injury, gave him a little bit of a reset and he's going to play tonight," Berube confirmed.
Jarnkrok slotted in on the fourth line with David Kampf and Steven Lorentz in his last game on Wednesday.
Nick Robertson, who started in that fourth-line spot on Saturday, will be a healthy scratch for the first time since Jan. 7.
"Nothing that Robbie did wrong," said Berube. "He's worked hard and he's played some good hockey for us, but I gotta make decisions. They're hard decisions. They're not easy decisions and it's just what I went with tonight."
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The Leafs have dropped three straight games (0-2-1) for the first time since late January. What's the mood like around the team?
"Definitely not happy," said McMann. "We'd love to get this thing rolling again."
"It's going to be a big game for us here tonight to come out and show the way we want to play," said defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. "We got away from that a little bit the last five or six games."
The Leafs held a meeting on Sunday to address the recent downturn in their play. Berube ran it, but a lot of guys spoke up.
"Everybody had a voice," McMann said. "Trying to just talk through and recognize that we are such a good team and when we come and play with a good effort and being diligent about our habits and things like that that we are going to win games. So, it's getting back to that and making sure everybody is accountable."
Monday's game is the end of a busy, road-heavy stretch for the Leafs, who will be playing for the ninth time in 17 days. This stretch has taken them through eight cities and three time zones.
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Matthews made a rare appearance at Monday's optional skate. The captain almost always prefers to rest up in these type of situations.
Matthews was not available to the media. Was he trying to set the tone with the team in a funk? Was he just getting a feel for the Delta Center ahead of his first NHL game in Utah?
Whatever brought him to the ice, he was a welcome sight for McMann.
"It's good," McMann said with a big smile. "I love it. I'm out there all the time so I like when he's out there. I think it's just guys taking whatever they need to get ready. Sometimes you want to feel the ice a little bit more, especially on the road. Sometimes you don't get those practices in as much as you want so maybe it's getting a few extra reps."
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Defenceman Chris Tanev will miss a sixth straight game with an upper-body injury.
"He's skating again and we'll just keep working with him," said Berube. "When he feels like he's good to go, he's good to go. I can't give you a timeline on it right now."
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Max Pacioretty tweaked something in a practice coming out of the 4 Nations break and hasn't played since. He was last on the ice with the team during a practice on March 2.
"He's got an injury so he's out," Berube said when asked for a status update on the veteran winger.
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McMann skated with John Tavares and William Nylander at Sunday's practice while Pontus Holmberg shifted to the Laughton line. But McMann told TSN he will not play with Tavares and Nylander on Monday night.
"We actually switched it up again this morning," McMann said with a smile. "We're throwing you guys for a loop."
Holmberg started Saturday's game with Tavares and Nylander while McMann was with Laughton and Domi.
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Projected Leafs lineup for Monday's game:
Knies - Matthews - Marner
Holmberg - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Laughton - Domi
Lorentz - Kampf - Jarnkrok
McCabe - Ekman-Larsson
Rielly - Carlo
Benoit - Myers
Woll starts
Stolarz