Cousins fined for warm-up shots at Stolarz as Battle of Ontario takes strange turn
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The Maple Leafs held a team meeting at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Friday.
The NHL's Department of Player Safety fined Nick Cousins $2,083.33, the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement, for unsportsmanlike conduct on Friday. The Senators forward shot multiple pucks at Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz while he stretched near the red line during warm-ups prior to Game 3 on Thursday night.
The Senators have also been fined $25,000. Despite the punishment, no one on either side of the Battle of Ontario seemed particularly concerned about what happened. In fact, Senators coach Travis Green found some levity in the situation even though his team is trailing the Leafs 3-0 in the series and set to face elimination on Saturday night.
"It’s an active investigation," Green said, tongue-in-cheek, before the league announced the levy. "I don’t know if I should be commenting on that right now."
Your humble correspondent pressed the coach for more.
"I have people that have advised me maybe not to comment on it," Green said to laughs. "I'm kidding. Cousins and Stolarz have played together. I don’t know. Yeah, he’s probably trying to laugh at him or make a joke or get him off his game. It is what it is."
TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger was first to report that the league was looking into the matter. Grainy video then surfaced on social media showing Cousins shooting at least one puck at Stolarz.
"We’re going to have to bring back HD for the warm-up too," quipped veteran Senators forward David Perron. "I’m from the days when there was only 10 games in HD when I started my career. It sounds like we need to up the quality of video in warmups too. I haven’t seen it, to be honest."
Cousins and Stolarz played together last season with the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. They were also teammates earlier in their careers with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Leafs coach Craig Berube, meanwhile, was only vaguely aware of what happened.
"I don’t think it’s anything," he said. "I mean, they played together last year. I don’t even know who did it. I don’t know a lot about it to be honest with you. I mean, the league will handle that."
Green did talk to Cousins about what happened.
"He said, ‘I know him. Game within the game,'" Green relayed. "Happens probably a lot more than you think."
"I’ve definitely thrown a couple pucks across the ice when I’ve played against some old teammates," said Leafs defenceman Brandon Carlo. "So nothing really there."
Berube was asked if he was ever involved in any pre-game flashpoints during his playing days. The 59-year-old recalled how his Flyers teammate Keith Acton "loved to get stuff going in warm-ups." Flyers goalie Ron Hextall was also known to fire the odd puck down the ice.
During one game against Tie Domi and the New York Rangers during the 1990-91 season, the warm-up antics set things off.
"Finally Tie takes a slapshot and hits Hexy with the puck," Berube said with a big smile. "So Hexy goes flying over there and we have a little melee."
Berube, of course, was in the middle of it.
It's hard to imagine anything like that happening in the current game, but the NHL isn't taking any chances.
"It only takes one more thing to happen before another game where potentially things could escalate," said TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston. "The NHL is particularly sensitive about issues in warm-ups because you're playing the same team over and over again and maybe the Leafs bring [veteran tough guy] Ryan Reaves in, who's not playing in this series, to be part of the next warm-up if things don't get dealt with from the NHL level."
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The Senators haven't really been able to unsettle Stolarz be it during warm-ups or the actual games. The Leafs goalie has a .926 save percentage in the series.
"He’s cool as a cucumber," said Leafs winger Max Domi.
During Game 1, Senators forward Ridly Greig fell and crashed into Stolarz while driving the net. Berube did not feel it was an accident.
In Game 2, Stolarz slashed and pushed Greig when the Senators forward set up shop in front of his net during a power play. Stolarz knocked Greig to the ice when he tried to skate through his crease at the end of the sequence. Both players received penalties on the play.
Stolarz stayed away from that sort of stuff in Game 3.
"I kind of talk to the refs a little bit and just said, ‘Watch my back, and I’ll behave,'" Stolarz revealed with a smile. "They’re going to try to come to the net. They got some big guys. It’s just up to me to just fight through traffic, find that puck and smother it."
Stolarz finally showed some fallibility in the third period on Thursday as Senators captain Brady Tkachuk beat him short side on a clean shot off the rush. It was Ottawa's first shot of the period.
"That’s a tough one for me to give up," said Stolarz, who had never started a game in the Stanley Cup playoffs prior to this series. "But that’s the great thing about playoff hockey, you have 19 other guys out there who are there to pick you up and I kind of knew after that that I was going to be dialed. Next shot I was going to be ready for."
Stolarz turned aside a high-danger look from Drake Batherson shortly after allowing the Tkachuk goal.
The Senators feel they can test Stolarz more.
"He’s playing some good hockey," said defenceman Thomas Chabot. "He’s making some big saves at big moments. You know what, it’s going to sound simple but it really is, you’re going to have to put a lot of traffic in front of him and get some greasy rebounds, greasy goals and cut his eyes out and be in front of him and not let him see the shots come in."
Ottawa is struggling to get shots through. The Leafs rank second in blocked shots in the playoffs. The Senators are second in missed shots.
"We've talked about it a lot," said Green. "Shot selection, hitting the net, getting in front of the net. I didn't think we had the puck enough last night in the offensive zone. I didn't think either team had it a lot. There was a lot of neutral-zone play last night. And the other team has a say in getting pucks to the paint too and they've done a good job and we've gotta do a better job. There's no doubt about it."
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Leafs captain Auston Matthews scored his first goal of the series on Thursday night courtesy an amazing set up by Mitch Marner.
"That’s an all-world play," said Domi. "Not many people can make that play."
"That was pretty incredible," said Carlo, who was acquired from the Boston Bruins at the trade deadline. "What a touch and what a look. Those guys are very capable of finding each other on the ice. I was very subject to that on the opposite side of things for a lot of years. It’s fun to watch and fun to be a part of."
Defenceman Morgan Rielly sent a pass along the boards to Marner who had set up shop behind the net. The Leafs winger one touched the puck right to Matthews, who was open in front.
"We had a play like that against Nashville earlier in the year that was really similar," Rielly recalled. "I think that comes with playing with him over time and just understanding how he sees the game and the areas of the ice that he wants to find."
Senators goalie Linus Ullmark was still looking the wrong way when Matthews hammered the puck past him.
"I’m just behind the net and kinda went eye-on-eye with Mo," Marner said. "Had a feeling he was going to rim that down to me, and from that point on I’m just taking a quick look to see what’s around me. I know Auston’s sitting there. I’m just trying to get my stick in a good spot for it to roll off the toe into the heel, break through whoever it was, and hit Auston."
"He’s very talented when it comes to making those plays," said Rielly, "but he’s also very good at finding those soft areas. That’s what he does."
Berube appreciated how his top line remained patient during Game 3 even though it was difficult to generate good looks against the Senators shutdown line of Shane Pinto, Greig and Michael Amadio.
"They got a tough matchup," said Berube. "That Pinto line does a great job of checking them and it’s hard to get them away from them. Those guys are good checkers, all three of them on that line, and are hard to play against. That line stuck with it and finally that came through and got a big goal. And that’s the mindset you gotta have. It’s not going to happen for maybe two periods, two and a half periods, you gotta keep grinding and keep working. They did a good job of that. They defended well, worked, competed and then you got guys on that line that can make high-end plays and that was a high-end play."
The goal was one of only two shots for Matthews in the game. Marner did not register a shot on goal in Game 3.
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Toronto cashed in on one of two chances on the power play in Game 3.
Matthew Knies got credited with the man-advantage marker on Thursday after his pass in front of the net deflected in off Pinto. The Senators are finding it hard to contain the 6-foot-3, 227-pound winger down low.
"You have a lot of star talent with those four guys," Knies said. "I just gotta park my big ass in front and create havoc. Take that D away, take the eyes away [of the goali], and those guys make plays. Luckily we found a bounce to get us going."
The Leafs have scored on the power play in all three games in the series.
Toronto's power play took off this season after Knies joined the top unit in November as the net-front presence and Marner moved to the quarterback spot as part of a five-forward alignment.
Knies also scored a power-play goal in Game 1.
"He’s been good," Rielly said of Knies. "That’s a very important area of the ice and I think he does a good job of occupying it. He’s making plays, too. It’s not just the other guys making plays, he’s got great poise down there and it’s been paying off. Those guys have been doing an outstanding job now for a few months and it’s an important part of our game."
Toronto is five for nine on the power play in the series.
The Leafs converted on one of 21 chances in the playoffs last year, which is a big reason why they fell in seven games to the Boston Bruins.
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Max Pacioretty returned to the Leafs lineup for the first time since Feb. 8 on Thursday and earned a good review from the coach.
"I thought he was excellent," said Berube. "I loved his physicality. Skated well. Made some nice plays. That line, you know, they had a couple opportunities. I thought he was really good for us."
Pacioretty, who dealt with an undisclosed injury down the stretch, slotted in beside Domi and Bobby McMann. The 36-year-old winger played 12 minutes and 24 seconds while landing seven hits, which matched McMann for the team high.
"Played great," said Domi. "We told him after the game, we’re like, ‘That’s not an easy feat,’ and he looked pretty good. He looked pretty young too. Great to see."
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Leafs lines in Game 3:
Knies - Matthews - Marner
Holmberg - Tavares - Nylander
Jarnkrok - Laughton - Lorentz
Pacioretty - Domi - McMann
McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
Benoit - Ekman-Larsson
Stolarz
Woll