Matthews builds momentum in marquee matchup with MacKinnon
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The Maple Leafs beat the Colorado Avalanche at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday night before flying to New York where they will face the Rangers on Thursday.
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The Leafs limited Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon, the NHL's leading scorer, to one power-play assist during Wednesday's 2-1 win.
Craig Berube liked how the Auston Matthews line, with wingers Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner, handled one of the hardest matchups in hockey.
"What made them effective as a line is they went after them," the Leafs head coach said. "They played in the offensive zone and created opportunities and worked and skated. What we talked about is putting them on their heels a little bit, and they did that. That line was very good for us."
Matthews produced a power-play goal and fired eight shots on net, which was his highest total in a game since October. The Leafs captain also hit the crossbar on another chance.
MacKinnon landed six shots of his own but finished the night minus-1.
"Auston did a great job against him and same with his wingers," said defenceman Jake McCabe, who was also matched against MacKinnon alongside partner Chris Tanev. "We did a pretty good job slowing 29 down through the middle of the ice. I thought we did a good job against that line. We spent some time in the O-zone, got some good looks, and suppressed their scoring chances."
Shot attempts (15-15) and shots (6-6) were even in the 13 minutes and 34 seconds that Matthews and MacKinnon shared the ice in 5-on-5 play, per NaturalStatTrick.com.
"He’s always a tough guy to go up against," said Matthews. "He brings so much speed and power, and everything he does is 100 miles an hour so he’s a tough guy to matchup against. You just try and stay above him as much as possible and keep him to the outside. But obviously he’s too good of a player to not get his looks at times, so just try to be on the right side of him, check him hard and just be aware of when he’s on the ice at all times."
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar actually switched his lines during the game putting MacKinnon, who started the night with Martin Necas and Artturi Lehkonen, with deadline pickup Brock Nelson, who moved to the wing, and Valeri Nichushkin.
"It wasn’t perfect, but I feel like the three of us are pretty good-sized guys, who can get to the inside on D and we had a lot of good looks," MacKinnon told reporters. "Weren’t pretty, but really-high quality looks in front, off rebounds, D shots so, yeah, I thought we deserved a couple for sure."
The Avalanche entered Wednesday's game on an 8-0-1 run. MacKinnon had six goals and 10 assists during the hot streak.
"He’s a good player," said Leafs goalie Joseph Woll. "This year is my first time playing him and [Connor] McDavid, and they’re special players, and they have their reputation for a reason, but I’ll take the guys we have in this room 10 out of 10 times."
Matthews has now scored in three straight games for the first time since mid-January. After a draining six-week stretch on the road, including the intense 4 Nations Face-Off games, Matthews seems to have been energized by the recent four-game home swing, which wrapped on Wednesday.
"Yeah, it’s been nice," the Leafs captain said. "Nice to be at home for a little bit, spend some time with my dog, just sleep in your own bed. Yeah, it’s been good. It’s been good to have this stretch of games here. Going back on the road [now] and that’s life, and these are important games for us, important points, and we just gotta be ready."
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Woll stopped 38 of 39 shots on Wednesday to earn the win in his first career start against the Avalanche.
"It was solid all the way through," he said. "Again, preach it all the time, but just stick to my process."
It was the first time Woll, who also won on Monday against the Calgary Flames, started consecutive games since Anthony Stolarz returned from a knee injury in early February.
Berube explained that he chose to start Woll, because he felt the goalie had played well in his previous two starts, including a shootout win in Utah.
"It’s nice to play a lot," Woll acknowledged. "It’s easier to get in that rhythm and that groove and you’re not thinking as much, because you’re in the net, and when you’re playing you’re not really thinking. I just try and do my job when I’m called upon and will continue to do that."
Woll needed to be sharp early on as the Avalanche outshot the Leafs 13-5 in the first period.
"He was excellent," Berube said. "He made some real good saves and held us in it in the first period. I didn’t think we were on our toes in the first period. We looked like we were a little bit tentative and not aggressive enough. We were kind of watching them move the puck around and skate."
Late in the second period, Woll denied MacKinnon's net-front chance during a frantic final-minute sequence after Marner lost his stick.
In the third period, Woll stared down Nelson and flashed his glove on a point-chance following a McCabe turnover.
"Stood tall," McCabe said. "Bailed me out in the third there. Turn the puck over and he has that save right down the pipe. But that wasn’t the only big save. He had numerous big saves. Great with the puck. Overall, just super steady."
"Their goalie played good," Bednar told reporters. "We kept going at the glove and it seemed like he was kind of dialed in on that."
Since being pulled for the first time in his NHL career on March 7 in Vegas, Woll has won three straight games with a .939 save percentage.
"It doesn’t really matter what’s going on in the game, he could be playing good, he could be playing bad, I find he always just has the same attitude, the same mentality," said Matthews. "He approaches things the same every night and he’s extremely focused. I thought he was excellent for us. He made some big saves there at the end there to keep it a tie game there. I just thought he was all over it."
Stolarz will look to snap his four-game skid (0-3-1) on Thursday night in New York. His last win was at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 28.
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Woll and Matthews had strong nights, but the Leafs still needed a little luck to knock off the Avalanche. And they got it on the game-winning goal by Steven Lorentz.
Toronto was killing a penalty early in the third period when a clearance by defenceman Simon Benoit hit referee Kelly Sutherland, who had stumbled and fell in the neutral zone.
"I’m not too sure what happened with the ref," Lorentz said. "I was trying to look to get a change and I just saw him go down a little bit and saw the puck squirt loose, so I thought I might as well reroute and try and go get a shot on net."
Lorentz broke in on a 2-on-1 and blasted a shot past Mackenzie Blackwood for his sixth goal, and third game winner, of the season.
"I was fortunate enough to pick a corner and the rest of history," Lorentz said with a big smile. "I'll take that bounce. It seems like I’ve had a few bounces go the other way this year so we'll take that one."
It was just after the 4 Nations break in Chicago that Lorentz had a 2-on-1 chance only to see his shot deflect off a piece of his own stick that had broken earlier in the shift.
Lorentz is a native of Kitchner, Ont. and playing his first season with his hometown team.
"It’s surreal every game," he said. "I take pride in pulling that jersey over every single game and I mean that. Scoring a goal like [that] you think of just being a little kid jumping in the glass, so definitely cool. Again, it’s a job now for me and I take it very seriously, but there’s still that passion, that fire in myself that I love doing what I do in Toronto."
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The game-winning goal elicited some smiles in the Leafs room.
"Fortuitous bounce," McCabe said. "It’s kind of funny how the Hockey Gods work out. Sometimes you get those bounces, sometimes you don’t. I feel like they honestly haven’t really been bouncing our way the last couple weeks, so it was nice to get a bounce and Stevie take advantage."
The Leafs were on a 1-4-1 slide after home losses to Florida and Ottawa last week. But after wins over Calgary and Colorado to start this week, the team is heading back out on the road with a bounce in its step.
Matthews described Wednesday's win as "gritty."
"I think our team showed that we’re a special team," Woll said.
What did they show?
"I think patience," the goalie said. "Like, it’s a tight game and stuck to our systems, like we preach, and get a go-ahead goal and we just continue to play our game. We had some of our best chances after we had the lead and we were defending the lead. I think just continuing to play like that, those are habits of special teams."
After playing the Rangers on Thursday, the Leafs will head to Nashville for a game against the Predators on Saturday.
"Just build," McCabe said. "Build our confidence. Momentum, it’s a big thing in this league. When you lose a few in a row sometimes the confidence just isn’t quite there as it was when you’re winning three in a row. [This win can] kind of catapult us here the rest of March and then into April. It’s getting into crunch time, as we’ve been talking about here the last couple weeks, so a big few games on the road here coming up."
The race for first place in the Atlantic Division is incredibly tight. The Leafs and Panthers have the same number of points (85), but Florida is on top because they have more regulation wins (35-33). The Tampa Bay Lightning are just two points back with a game in hand and 34 regulation wins.
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Scott Laughton is minus-3 with no points in six games since being acquired by the Leafs in a deadline deal with the Philadelphia Flyers.
"I think he’s trying to probably play the game without making mistakes and he’s overthinking things instead of just playing," Berube said. "That will come around. I do believe that. He wants to do well. You just have to loosen up and go play. Like, use your ability. You are a good player. You played in the league for a long time. Just go play. I think he is holding back a little bit. He is too safe almost."
Laughton is from Oakville, Ont. and had friends and family in the crowd during the past week.
"I am sure that is part of it," Berube said. "He is from here. He has a lot going on with people and everything else. You want to please, right? He has to forget about pleasing and play and do your thing. You are a good player. That is why you are in the NHL and have played for a long time.
Laughton initially slotted in as the team's third-line centre, but has been dropped to the fourth line in the last couple of games.
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The Leafs will hold a media availability at 4:45 pm at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
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Leafs lines to start Wednesday's game:
Knies - Matthews - Marner
Holmberg - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Domi - Robertson
Lorentz - Laughton - Jarnkrok
McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
Benoit - Ekman-Larsson
Woll starts
Stolarz