Leafs will lean on Tanev with red-hot Kucherov, Lightning in town

The Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning skated at Scotiabank Arena on Monday. 

---

Chris Tanev left Saturday's game in the second period after blocking a Mika Zibanejad blast with his right leg. 

"Didn't feel great," the Leafs defenceman said. "Sometimes they get you right in the right spot where you get like a dead leg and can't move, and that's sort of what that one did there."

The one-time shot struck Tanev on the outside of the right leg. 

"That was a very difficult thing to watch," said winger Matthew Knies. "Obviously, it didn't get him in the right spot, but he's a warrior."

Tanev immediately left for the dressing room. 

"I've been hit there plenty," he said. "It's just sometimes you get one right in that spot and it doesn't feel great."

Tanev returned to the bench early in the third period, but only played four shifts down the stretch. 

"If you're able to play, you're able to play, right," Tanev said. "If you're not, you're not. But if you're out there you're expected to do your job and play well. That's sort of the hockey mindset and things that hockey players do." 

"He's a tough guy," said head coach Craig Berube. "He could have played probably more in the third, but we were down a goal and just kind of went with what we went with."

Tanev hasn't hit the scoresheet in five games with the Leafs, but the big summer signing (six-year, $27 million contract) is delivering as advertised with a sound, defensive performance. He leads the Leafs with 15 blocked shots and has only been on the ice for one 5-on-5 goal against. 

"He's just very sturdy, steady back there," observed winger Mitch Marner. "He's great with his stick. He makes really good, easy plays that are easy for us forwards to read and try to react off of. He just brings that steadiness back there."

Tanev was back in his regular spot beside Morgan Rielly at Monday's skate. In his first four games prior to the injury scare, Tanev averaged just under 20 minutes of ice time while serving on the top penalty-kill unit.

---

After splitting the first 14 seasons of his career between the Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars, Tanev is still adjusting to life in the Eastern Conference. 

"It's definitely a little different, but you'll pick up on things as things go," the 34-year-old said. "But definitely doing video, talking to the guys, 'Hey what does this guy like to do in this situation?' I mean, a lot of communication and that goes a long way." 

Tanev didn't face the Lightning last year, but is well aware of what reigning Art Ross Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov is capable of. 

"He plays the game at his own pace," Tanev said. "He'll slow it down. He'll speed it up. We can't let him dictate and control the game."

Kucherov leads the league with seven goals through only four games. 

"He's elite," said Berube. "It's about trying to take away his options as best we can and pressure him. We got to be hard on their skill. That's probably the best way to approach it. In saying that, he's an elite player. He's going to make plays."

Kucherov is averaging of 5.5 shots per game, which is well above the 3.8 shots per game he landed last season when he compiled 44 goals and 100 assists. 

"Kuch just seems to be taking his game to another level," said Lightning defenceman and new captain Victor Hedman. "When he can be that dual threat, shooting and passing, it's tough to stop. It's been a lot of fun to see him go to work."

Tampa's top line hasn't missed a step with newcomer Jake Guentzel slotting in beside Kucherov and Brayden Point. 

"If you look at his career, he's played with elite players both in Pittsburgh and Carolina," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of Guentzel. "He's got an IQ that's off the charts and, to me, you need those type of guys to play with elite players. Anybody can't just sit here and say, 'I can go play with Connor McDavid or Nikita Kucherov' or go down the list of elite players, Auston Matthews, but you need somebody who's on that wavelength and Jake is definitely on that wavelength." 

"Their top line is as good as it gets in the league," said Berube. "They're very dangerous." 

The Leafs have only allowed five goals in 5-on-5 play through five games. Tanev and fellow newcomer Oliver Ekman-Larsson have helped bolster the blueline while Berube's north-south system seems to suit the stars just fine. 

"It's the same cast of characters, in my opinion," Cooper said. "They have a really good team. They're hunting north of 100 points every single year. I know Sheldon [Keefe]. I know Berube. Like, great guys. Probably two little different styles, but they both win."

It's a similar feel, perhaps, but Cooper acknowledges there is a new-coach bounce that is evident. 

"You can tell ... they've got some pushback in their game," he said. "I would expect nothing less from [Berube]-coached teams." 

---

Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was the first star on Saturday night. 

"You can see why he's going to be the highest-paid goalie in the league," said Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz. "He came up big for them."

Shesterkin stopped 34 of 35 shots, including eight of nine off the stick of Matthews. 

"He's not the biggest guy, but he's very athletic and seems to come up with big saves when his team needs it," Matthews said. "Obviously a lot of respect for him."

John Tavares had a glorious chance in the slot only to see Shesterkin flash his glove. 

"I would have liked to get my release off a little quicker but it's a good save," the Leafs centre said. "He was playing very deep. He reminded me a lot of [Henrik] Lundqvist in that situation with how deep he can play. Going at the awkward holes and spots can almost be more effective. I tried to get it off as quick as I can and elevate it and he's a hell of a goalie, who made a good save. Hopefully next time around you're on the right side of it."

The Leafs were careful not to give Shesterkin too much credit for Saturday's result. 

"You gotta make sure you got guys in front of him and create a little bit more havoc," Matthews said. "I thought he saw too much."

"We can do a better job of taking his eyes away a little bit more," agreed Berube. 

The Leafs will face a similar challenge on Monday with Andrei Vasilevskiy in town. 

"For us, you gotta enjoy that," Tavares said. "You gotta relish that ... You're talking about the most proven goalie in the league, probably."

"We had plenty of opportunities last game," stressed Berube. "We missed the net at crucial times last game. Could've made a difference, and we can do a better job of creating second and third opportunities around the net and more scrums and things like that and get some dirty goals on these guys. That's how you have to approach it." 

Matthews is heating up with goals in consecutive games. He's scored 21 goals in 31 games against Vasilevskiy, including nine in 13 playoff games.

---

The Leafs power play had a golden opportunity to make a difference on Saturday night, but failed to generate much pressure let alone a goal during a chance in the third period. 

"When the game's on the line right there, you have an opportunity to tie it up, we got to have more urgency," said Berube. 

The Leafs failed to convert on all three chances on Saturday and are now 2-for-16 on the season. Toronto's 12.5 per cent conversion rate on the power play is tied for 26th overall. 

"Just try to keep it simple," Marner said of the required mindset. "We got to just try and get more pucks around that net. Sometimes we are making too many plays. We're trying to be cute with it and we're getting too out of sync, so just get back to the easy play and predictable plays that we can read off each other, and just start that way and go from there."

The Leafs liked how they approached their first two power plays against the Rangers. 

"We had some good looks, but then there's just a little bit of inconsistency there," Matthews said. "We'd like to be better. It needs to be better, especially when you're going up against teams like [the Rangers], who have a very good power play, something that they feed off of."

Toronto's power play got on the board twice in the previous game against the Los Angeles Kings, but could not build on that momentum. 

"We gotta dig a little bit deeper in the third there to give ourselves a chance to get back into that game," said Ekman-Larsson, who is the new quarterback on the top power-play unit. 

After a day off on Sunday, the Leafs worked on special teams at Monday's skate. 

"Power play in practice, for the most part, it's about puck movement and touches and things like that," Berube said. "I'm looking for quick puck movement and people in position and getting open for each other and, when there's a loose puck, getting recoveries, winning those battles, things like that."

Asked if he liked what he saw at the morning skate, Berube didn't mention the top unit of Matthews, Marner, Tavares, William Nylander and Ekman-Larsson. Instead, he praised the second unit of Rielly, Max Domi, Max Pacioretty, Nick Robertson and Matthew Knies. 

"They had a shot mentality, which was great to see," Berube said. "I thought Morgan was shooting it up top. Both [Domi and Pacioretty] were shooting it and we had a good net presence on all those plays. So, it was good to see."

---

The Lightning are also struggling on the power play. After going 0-for-10 in the past three games, their 12.5 per cent success rate is the same as the Leafs. 

"Everyone knows who we lost last year," Brandon Hagel told the Tampa Bay Lightning website. "So, this is what's going to happen throughout the year."

Departed captain Steven Stamkos, who signed with Nashville in the summer, led the Lightning with 19 power-play goals last season.  

Hagel joined Tampa's top unit at the morning skate replacing defenceman Darren Raddysh. 

"He's got the downhill look, you know, playing on his off side," Point noted. "So maybe that's going to throw some teams off. They got to play him different than they would a one-timer. It's early and we're looking for ways to have success."

---

Stolarz felt he should have had New York's first goal on Saturday. And after the Rangers extended their lead midway through the second period, the 30-year-old knew he needed to be perfect the rest of the way to give his teammates a chance at a comeback. 

"Just trying to stay in there and keep it close," Stolarz said. "If you give one up you just want to forget about it and just focus on the next shot and I thought I did a really good job of that."

Stolarz held his head high after holding his own in a "playoff-style game" against the defending Presidents' Trophy winners. There were a couple occasions where Stolarz could have let the moment get to him. Late in the second period, the blade on his skate was knocked off, but the referees didn't whistle play dead. There's no rule saying that have too. 

"I didn't do it on purpose," Stolarz said. "At the end of the day, it's about player safety ... your groin is kind of just going. If it's an imminent scoring chance I understand it, but the puck was at the other end, so I don't really understand the reasoning."

In the third period, Stolarz appeared to be hurt. 

"I looked down and I just kind of saw a skate inside my pad," he said. "I think it was [Simon Benoit's] skate that just kind of got up in there and I felt something. I wear those cut-proof socks. I had an incident back in juniors so maybe a little PTSD there." 

During an Ontario Hockey League game in 2014, a skate blade slashed the back of his leg, which sidelined Stolarz for six weeks. 

"I didn't know if I felt anything or if it was the adrenaline again," Stolarz said, "so I just kind of wanted to make sure there wasn't any cut."

After head athletic therapist Paul Ayotte checked things out, Stolarz regrouped and continued. 

Stolarz stopped 25 of 27 shots and now owns a .937 save percentage in four games with the Leafs this season. 

"He gave us a chance to win, so I was very happy with that," said Berube. "I thought he had a solid game."

"We trust him a lot," said Knies. "We put a lot of faith into him, and he's been delivering."

Stolarz will make a fourth straight start on Monday. 

Joseph Woll, who has been sidelined with groin tightness, may be ready to make his season debut on Tuesday in Columbus, per Berube.

---

Pontus Holmberg took a penalty and played a season-low 11 minutes and 18 seconds on Saturday night. 

"He's got to battle a little bit harder for pucks and hang on to the pucks a little bit more like he was in training camp," Berube said. "He looks just a little step behind right now maybe."

Holmberg, who has one assist in five games, was demoted to the fourth line late in the game and is expected to remain in that spot on Monday. 

Pacioretty will return to the lineup after sitting out the last two games as a healthy scratch. Ryan Reaves will be a healthy scratch. 

"We obviously didn't win last game," said Berube. "We got back-to-back games here, so I have an opportunity get fresh guys in there and keep guys fresh for the next game. 

---

Projected Leafs lines for Monday's game: 

Knies - Matthews - Marner
McMann - Domi - Nylander 
Pacioretty - Tavares - Robertson
Lorentz - Kampf - Holmberg 

Rielly - Tanev
Ekman-Larsson - McCabe
Benoit - Timmins

Stolarz starts 
Hildeby

Lightning lines at Monday's skate: 

Guentzel - Point - Kucherov
Hagel - Cirelli - Chaffee 
Geekie - Paul - Atkinson  
Girgensons - Glendening - Eyssimont  
Sheary 

Hedman - Moser 
McDonagh - Cernak 
Lilleberg - Raddysh 
Perbix

Vasilevskiy starts 
Johansson