Playoff-mode Knies looks to stay hot against Florida teams
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The Maple Leafs held an optional practice at Ford Performance Centre on Monday.
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Playing the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning seems to bring out the best in Matthew Knies.
"It's just very tight scoring, close games," the 6-foot-3, 227-pound winger said ahead of Tuesday's showdown with the Panthers. "It's playoff hockey, very physical, and I think that’s kind of where my game takes off. It’s very simple, very up-and-down hockey, a North-South game, that’s kind of when I tend to play my best hockey, so that’s probably the reason."
Knies has piled up 10 goals and 11 assists in 22 career games against the NHL's Florida-based teams. That includes one goal and three assists in seven playoff games.
Knies scored the game-winning goal and added an assist in Toronto's 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers last week. The second-year pro followed that up with an assist and six shots, matching a season high, in the Leafs 5-0 shutout of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. Knies also landed a game high four hits.
"He is playing playoff hockey, that's for sure, with how heavy he is playing and skating and physical and just on top of things," said coach Craig Berube. "He's been playing extremely well for the last couple of weeks.”
With seven points in 14 career playoff games, Knies has already shown that he can generate offence when the games get tighter.
"I just want to be playing my best hockey at this time and go in with momentum and kind of the hunger that you need at playoff time," the 22-year-old said. "So I'm just trying to play my best hockey and I think it’s been trending upwards.”
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Knies showed his confidence on Saturday night by attempting to score via the 'Michigan' move.
"The puck was kind of rolling so I thought it was a good opportunity there to do it," said Knies. "That’s probably the closest I’ve ever come. It kind of sucks that it didn’t go in there.”
The University of Minnesota product tried the lacrosse-style move a couple times during NCAA play.
"By 'a few times' I mean probably twice," he said with a smile. "I tried it … but it’s never gone in for me, so I don't know if it's going to come out [again] any time soon."
What makes it hard to pull off?
"Ice has gotta be good," Knies noted. "I feel like the goalies expect it and that D's coming down on you so you don't want to get your head taken off. There's a lot of factors that make it very difficult. Close, but no cigar.”
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After a day off on Sunday, the Leafs held an optional practice on Monday. They usually hold a full team skate after a day off, but the schedule this week led Berube to prioritize rest.
"Back-to-back games coming up twice in [six] days," Berube pointed out. "That's part of the reasoning."
After playing in Sunrise, Fla. on Tuesday, the Leafs will head across the state to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. Toronto will then host the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night before travelling to Raleigh to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday in a 5pm start.
So, that's four games this week in four different cities against opponents who are all in a playoff spot.
Despite the condensed calendar, most of the Leafs participated in the practice on Monday. John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander were the only regulars to stay off the ice.
The Leafs are expecting the Panthers to be full of energy after losing for the fifth straight time (0-4-1) on Sunday.
"They're an experienced team," said centre Auston Matthews. "They're a veteran team, so you lose a couple in a row, you know you’re going to get a good game from them tomorrow."
Florida is 4-8-1 since defenceman Aaron Ekblad was suspended on March 10 for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. The injuries are also piling up with Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Gustav Forsling missing Sunday's game to rest some bumps and bruises. That trio joined Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Nico Sturm and Dmitry Kulikov on the sidelines.
"Obviously they have some top guys out right now," said Knies. "They still played a great game against us [last week] and it was a tough battle so I expect the same response from them if not even more. I'm sure they’re eager and want to win. It's going to be a big battle over there."
The Leafs are four points up on the Lightning in the race for top spot in the division and six points clear of the Panthers. Tampa plays in New York against the Rangers on Monday night.
The Panthers are third place in the Atlantic Division, but just two points ahead of the Ottawa Senators, who hold the first wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.
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The Leafs are 8-1-1 since March 17 so there’s been a lot to like lately. Berube is especially pleased with how his group closed out games last week.
“They’re pretty tight for the first couple periods, but we’re not trying to open it up or anything like that,” Berube said. “We’re just staying with our game and then the third periods have been very important for our hockey team, in my opinion. We gotta keep pushing, playing smart, checking, not opening the game up, not forcing pucks, making good puck decisions. The checking side of things, we’re going to keep hammering away at that, all parts of the game, but I like our process right now where it’s tight in these games the first two periods and then the third period we’ve been able to capitalize on our chances and win hockey games.”
The Leafs outshot the Jackets 13-8 and outscored them 3-0 in the third period on Saturday even though Columbus, a team sliding in the playoff race and desperate for points, entered the frame down 2-0.
“Just putting the team first in all aspects of our game and doing things the right way no matter what the situation or what the game brings,” said Matthews, who scored Toronto’s fifth goal on Saturday. “I thought the last game was a good example of that just locking it down in the third period, doing things the right way, and then adding onto our lead by playing good defensively with good structure, and capitalizing on the opportunities that we got.”
The Leafs also outshot (10-8) and outscored the Panthers (2-1) in the third period last week.
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Defenceman Jake McCabe and centre David Kampf, who missed Saturday's game due to injury, worked out on their own on a separate pad while the optional practice took place on Monday.
"They're skating today, which is good, but they'll be out the next two games," Berube said.
Kampf sustained an upper-body injury in Wednesday's win over the Panthers. McCabe also got hurt in that game, but the team hasn't specified the nature of the injury.
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Matthews, like much of the hockey world, tuned in to see Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin become the NHL’s goal-scoring king on Sunday.
"Pretty cool just to be able to witness that," the Leafs captain said. "It just felt like everything went right there. It was in his spot on the power play, the celebration, everything was amazing and pretty cool to be able to witness that record being broken.”
It was goal No. 895 for Ovechkin, who had tied Wayne Gretzky for the all-time mark a couple nights earlier.
"It's pretty crazy," said Knies. "I can't even count that high."
"They say records are made to be broken," Gretzky declared in a ceremony honouring the achievement, "but I'm not sure who’s going to get more goals than that."
If any active player has a chance it's probably Matthews.
"Maybe we'll see it down the line," Knies said. "[Auston] could do it."
With 398 goals in 623 games, Matthews is lighting the lamp at a rate of 0.64 goals per game. Ovechkin has been scoring at a rate of 0.6 goals per game. And Ovechkin didn't score his 398th goal until his 632th game.
So, can Matthews track down the Great 8?
"That's such a long way away or a long way to go," Matthews said. "I don't think I should even be in that conversation. I mean, this guy just broke the record. I'm so far away from that and I think it shouldn't really be a focus on myself. It, rightfully so, should be on Ovi and what he's been able to accomplish in his career."
Ovechkin's longevity and durability is a big part of his historic run. At age 39, he has scored 42 goals in 61 games this season. He broke his leg early in the year leading to a 16-game injury absence, which was actually the longest of his career.
"He's just built different than most people, probably," said Matthews. "Just kind of has that X-Factor. I don't know, I mean, everybody's different, but he's obviously a bit of a specimen."
Matthews has already missed 71 games due to injury in his career, including 15 this season for an upper-body issue.
Challenging Ovechkin’s record will require good health and sustained excellence.
But it is possible.
"There's people that are capable of doing it and breaking the record,” Berube said.
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Matthews is actually having a down season by his standards with just 30 goals in 61 games.
It is Nylander, who leads the Leafs in that department this season. The winger scored twice on Saturday to bring his total to 44. With six games left, he’s six goals away from 50.
“Just gotta try to keep shooting the puck,” the smooth-skating Swede said. “But the most important thing is to win the games here going forward and get our game ready for the playoffs.”
Nylander ended last season on an 11-game goal drought, but is showing no signs of slowing down this year.
“What goes unnoticed is the work he puts in,” said defenceman Morgan Rielly. “As teammates we talk about it, he scores these beautiful goals, but days and weeks before the game he’s out there after practice or before practice, or on off days, working on all that stuff. So, I think that goes unnoticed and I don’t think he gets enough credit.”
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Steven Lorentz dropped the gloves on Saturday night becoming the 12th different Leaf to fight this season. That's tied for the most fighters in the league.
"We want to be a difficult team to play against like any team," said Berube. "The fighting majors are the fighting majors, whatever. I think guys really do get in there and stick up for each other and handle things. That's important. We have pushback because you need pushback, and it's great to see that guys get in there for each other and stick up for each other and it's not just one guy or a certain guy, it's anybody who's at that opportunity.”
Since March 3, the Leafs have taken eight majors in 16 games, which is tied for fourth in the NHL and only one behind the leaders (Boston, Washington, Nashville). Someone on Toronto is fighting basically every other game these days.
"We're just sticking up for each other," defenceman Simon Benoit told TSN. "We're showing some grit and we're not backing down from anybody, from anyone. It’s a good trajectory the team is taking and hopefully we can bring that energy to the playoffs."
Lorentz, who has taken just two minor penalties this season, didn’t hesitate to engage on Saturday after a spirited net-front battle with Sean Kuraly.
In the third period, Benoit took on Mathieu Olivier, who leads the NHL with 14 fights this season.
"He's way out of my league, but he wanted to get his guys going after a tough loss, which I respect,” said Benoit. "I have to give him the respect he deserves. He asked me for one and I give him one and it is what it is.
Benoit and Olivier, who were once teammates with the Shawinigan Cataractes in the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League, caught up after the game in the hallway between the dressing rooms.
“We see each other once in a while in the summer when there’s some skates,” said Benoit. "I respect him a lot for what he does and he’s really good at it and he’s having a great season.”
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After sitting out three games as a healthy scratch, Nick Robertson scored twice in his return to the Leafs lineup on Saturday.
“I just think it gives me a reset,” the winger said of the time in the press box. “It gives you even more of that hunger to get back in and be effective, and try to make the most of any opportunity I’m given. And I thought I did that. It’s now my job to recover, and prepare, and continue the same mindset next game.”
"Just incredible,” said Nylander. “I feel like it’s automatic. Every time he rests and gets back in the lineup, he scores.”
You can understand why Nylander feels that way. The last four times Robertson has been forced to sit out a game, he has responded by hitting the scoresheet, notching four goals and two assists in the subsequent games.
Of course, the 23-year-old would prefer to simply stay in the lineup. What does he need to do to carve out a permanent role?
“Listen, the guy’s got great speed,” Berube said. “He can score goals. He can shoot. He has played pretty good hockey for us this year. It is not like he hasn’t … Nick’s just got to manage the puck more than anything. Be simple with it. Get pucks out. Get pucks in.”
At the end of Monday’s workout, Robertson worked on recovering rebounds in front of the net and clearing the puck out of the zone.
That’s not the only thing he’s focused on.
“Just physicality,” the 5-foot-9, 178 pounder said when asked what he needs to show to earn Berube’s trust. "I’m not the biggest guy, but I can do the little things to get touches on guys, and limit rush plays by finishing my checks and keep my game simple.”
Robertson landed two hits against the Jackets to go along with his two goals.
What makes Robertson an intriguing candidate for the Leafs playoff lineup is obvious: his ability to score. Robertson is seventh on the Leafs with 14 goals this season, which matches the career high he set last year.
“He’s got an elite release,” said Nylander.
“It’s quick, it’s heavy,” said goalie Anthony Stolarz. “You saw that five-hole move and I’ve seen that enough in practice this year. He knows where to shoot on goalies. He knows his spots.”
With 12 goals in 5-on-5 play this season, Robertson is just one behind Matthews and Marner in that category.
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Stolarz stopped all 27 shots he faced to pick up his second shutout of the season on Saturday.
“I’ve been feeling good here lately, last couple games,” Stolarz said. “[Goalie coach] Curtis Sanford and I have been working hard in practice, working on things around the crease, around the net, movements.”
The work is paying off. Stolarz has won five straight starts with a .944 save percentage in that stretch since March 20.
“He looks comfortable in the net,” observed Berube. “When I see him come out, playing pucks, and moving it, I see him comfortable. Tracking the puck and stuff like that, he was solid for us.”
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Lines in Saturday’s game:
Knies - Matthews - Marner
McMann - Tavares - Nylander
Laughton - Domi - Jarnkrok
Lorentz - Holmberg - Robertson
Ekman-Larsson - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
Benoit - Myers
Stolarz
Woll