Leafs expect emotional game against Caufield-less Canadiens
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The Maple Leafs (optional) and Montreal Canadiens skated at the Bell Centre on Saturday.
With leading goal scorer Cole Caufield out for the season, the injury-ravaged Montreal Canadiens will face an even bigger challenge the rest of the way.
"It's really unfortunate," said defenceman Jordan Harris. "He's the heart and soul of our team. He was on pace for 50 goals and everything. We all really feel for him. Definitely a lot of disappointment around the locker room."
"He's a massive part of our offence," said defenceman David Savard. "What he brings to our team, you know, there's not many people who can do that. It's a tough day for us, for sure."
It may get even tougher with the Leafs in town. Toronto has won two straight this week and is looking for revenge after the Canadiens upset their rivals 4-3 on opening night.
"They're going to play with lots of energy, lots of emotion," warned coach Sheldon Keefe. "The building and the rivalry and Saturday night and all those kind of things will bring a little more urgency and intensity to the game. I would expect to see their best. They play with lots of emotion against us. Even without Caufield, they still have lots of guys that are very dangerous in transition and can get [lost] in behind you and take advantage of it. So, lots of reasons for us to be dialled in that way."
It's not just Caufield missing, though. Juraj Slafkovsky, Brendan Gallagher, Paul Byron, Sean Monahan, Jake Evans, Joel Armia, Jake Allen and Kaiden Guhle are also out.
"Every time we've played this team, it's a very challenging game," said veteran Leafs winger Wayne Simmonds. "We have to look within ourselves and make sure that we're doing the right things."
"It's always a good buzz around town and in the building," captain John Tavares said. "As a player it's a lot of fun to play in and you never take them for granted ... We have to have our foot on the gas and go out and execute and be difficult to play against."
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Auston Matthews has scored in four straight and is coming off his most dominant performance of the season on Thursday.
"When that guy gets hot, he gets hot," said Harris. "Communicating for us is huge in the defensive zone, especially with all the switches they do, all the cycles. It's about not really being stuck to your man, communicating and passing guys off."
Matthews is a slippery sniper.
"He's a guy that moves around quite a bit on the ice," said Savard. "He's not a guy that's stationary. We got be aware of where he's at. If we cover him well and take the passing lane and don't give him too much time, we'll be fine."
Teams did their best to game plan for Matthews last season, but he still racked up 60 goals in just 72 games. He's more and more like the MVP from a year ago.
"He's starting to dial it in here," said Simmonds. "Around this time last year he started scoring every single game."
Last season, Matthews scored in 26 of 37 games from Jan. 8 to April 9.
"He's played good hockey for us, but he has another gear, another level," said Keefe. "You saw glimpses of that the other night. Obviously our team would get a boost from that. We're hoping for that to continue here."
The team is still buzzing about the move Matthews pulled off to score his first goal against Winnipeg. He deked Mark Scheifele before beating Connor Hellebuyck five hole.
"Just made it look so easy," marvelled rookie Bobby McMann. "You're just like, 'That’s impressive. That's some worldly talent there.' Great to have him on my side."
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With two goals on Thursday, Matthews moved into a tie with William Nylander for the team lead at 24. Matthews is heading to the All-Star Game in Sunrise, Fla. next month. He's been invited all six times that it's been held since he broke into the league. Nylander, meanwhile, is still awaiting his first invitation.
"No doubt Willy is an All-Star-calibre player and has had some great seasons," said Tavares. "Obviously, he's having a great year this year. I've always thought that it's important to recognize the players that are very deserving and every year there's always maybe a couple guys that, because of the format, don't get the recognition and it's important that gets looked at."
The All-Star Game features teams representing the four divisions facing off in 3-on-3 competition. Each team has nine skaters and two goalies.
How could the NHL reduce the number of snubs?
"Whether that's just expanding the rosters, it's something worth looking at," Tavares said.
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Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj is tied for the league lead with eight fighting majors. He's also 11th overall in hits.
"He's a big boy and he's not afraid to use his body," said Leafs winger Michael Bunting. "He's come into this league and shown he's not afraid of anyone."
The undrafted 21-year-old, who stands 6-foot-4, 238-pounds, leads the NHL with 92 penalty minutes.
"I give him kudos big time," said Simmonds. "He's worked his way to the NHL and I got a ton of respect for guys like that. He did it the hard way and he's still continuing to do it. He showed up in this league and proved that he can play."
Simmonds says the Hamilton, Ont. native reminds him of how Kyle Clifford played when he was a young guy breaking into the league in Los Angeles.
"A big, rugged guy not afraid of anybody and willing to prove himself at any point in time," Simmonds said.
Simmonds, 34, dropped the gloves five times as a rookie in 2008-09, but the league has changed quite a bit since then.
"I was definitely not shy," Simmonds recalled. "But, at the same time, I think back then we had about five, six guys on any team that would rip your head off so it's a little bit different now. But that's not taking away from anything he's done. He's done a great job."
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Simmonds will replace Dryden Hunt on the fourth line for Saturday's game.
"It's always special to come into Montreal on a Saturday night," the Scarborough, Ont. native said. "The fans here are going to be rocking. No matter where either team is in the standings, the game always turns out exciting, fast paced and usually pretty physical too. So, it's definitely a fun time."
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Ilya Samsonov starts again for the Leafs. It's the first time he's appeared in three straight games since October.
"When he's playing well, he does give our team that extra confidence," said defenceman Morgan Rielly. "You can tell when he's feeling it. He's a confident guy off the ice and when that translates on the ice, he's been playing really well for us."
Samsonov stopped a season high 37 shots in Thursday's win over the Winnipeg Jets. He's made a big impression off the ice as well.
"He's a pretty funny guy," said Simmonds. "We play cards together. He sits across from me so I have a good time with Sammy."
How's Samsonov's poker face?
"He's a wildcard," said Simmonds with a smile. "That's for sure. You never know what you're getting into when you're in a hand with him."
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With the Leafs moving away from the five-forward look on the power play, Rielly finds himself quarterbacking the top unit once more.
"You just want to be effective," said Rielly. "We talk about what we want to do as a group and what leads to success and we all have different roles. I want to be great when it comes to break outs, when it comes to getting shots through, when it comes to moving it from up top and making good passes."
Toronto went to the five-forward alignment when Rielly was out with a knee injury. He's played 11 games since returning and appears to be regaining some rhythm since pairing up with Timothy Liljegren on Tuesday.
The Leafs looked dangerous but failed to convert on their one power-play chance on Thursday with Rielly back with the top unit.
"I'm just trying to be the best I can be up there," Rielly said. "I do have confidence. You're able to move around and feel good about your game and that stuff helps."
Eight of Rielly's 21 assists this season have come on the power play.
"He's not known for a big one-timer or big bomb from the top, but he's got a tremendous snapper," said Tavares. "His timing with it is very good. We've been having him up there for a while now and have a good sense of his game and his instincts and how he reads the play. So, a tremendous amount of trust. Anyone that quarterbacks a power play, there's a lot of responsibility there and he handles it extremely well."
The Canadiens allowed four goals while shorthanded in Thursday's loss to the Florida Panthers. Montreal's penalty kill has dropped to 27th in the NHL at 73.7 per cent.
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Saturday marks two weeks since T.J. Brodie sustained a rib injury. The initial prognosis was that the defenceman would miss around two weeks. Where do things stand now?
"I don't have a timeline other than to say that the last couple days have been the most positive days and he's feeling better," said Keefe. "We're not expecting it to be too much longer."
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After missing Friday's practice for maintenance, Calle Jarnkrok skated on Saturday and appears good to go.
Projected lines for Saturday's game:
Bunting - Matthews - Nylander
Jarnkrok - Tavares - Marner
McMann - Kampf - Engvall
Aston-Reese - Kerfoot - Simmonds
Rielly - Liljegren
Giordano - Holl
Sandin - Timmins
Samsonov starts
Murray