Matthews aims to build goal-scoring momentum against Sharks

The Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks held optional skates at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.

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Macklin Celebrini will face one of his hockey role models for the first time when the San Jose Sharks take on Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs on Monday night in Toronto.

"He's been one of the players I watch and look up to," San Jose's rookie centre said. "Growing up, him and [Connor] McDavid were kind of in the spotlight and that was super cool for me, so to play against him tonight is going to be cool."

Celebrini joined the exclusive club of players drafted first overall last June. What does he notice when he watches the top pick from the 2016 draft?

"His ability to score goals," the 18-year-old from Vancouver said with a big smile. "I mean, that's obviously one."

Matthews has scored more goals than any other player since breaking into the league. But the 27-year-old Leafs captain had gone quiet of late. Sunday's goal in Pittsburgh marked the first time Matthews beat a goalie since Jan. 22. The dry spell stretched 13 games, including three with Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

"We've been winning games, so that's the most important part," Matthews said. "The chances have been there. Still creating elsewhere for other guys too."

Matthews has 11 assists in his last nine games with the Leafs. He also had three assists in three games with Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

And the Leafs have won five straight since returning from the break and eight of nine overall.

"You just keep pushing," Matthews said of his mindset. "The opportunities will continue to be there. And to just bear down and put one [in], it's obviously a good feeling."

"I know he's been snakebit a little bit, so it's nice," said Leafs coach Craig Berube. "He had six shots on net, so he's shooting, which is good."

The goal was No. 390 for Matthews, which moved him past Darryl Sittler and into sole possession of second spot on the franchise's goal-scoring list.

"It's nice to be in the same sentence as a guy like Darryl Sittler," Matthews said. "Obviously a great Leaf, paved the way for some of us now here today, so it's a big honour."

Only Mats Sundin (420) is ahead of Matthews on Toronto's all-time goals list.

Berube has praised Matthews for maintaining a stellar two-way game despite not scoring as much of late. That's what Celebrini sees as well.

"His defensive game and his positioning on the defensive side of the puck is something that gets a little bit overlooked," said Celebrini, who leads the Sharks with 44 points. "He's responsible. You just watch him and he's so calm and feels like he's always in the right spot. That's something that kind of gets overlooked, but it's something that, when you really pay attention to his game, stands out."

When he broke into the league, Matthews didn't have to face top lines every night. The Leafs leaned on centre Nazem Kadri to take on the tougher matchups.

Celebrini, meanwhile, is already atop the Sharks’ depth chart.

"He's handled everything really well," said Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky. "Everything he's been thrown at from players to media, the schedule, the grind, our situation, I think Mack's handled everything really, really well. He's a mature kid, competitor, so I don't think any moment is big for him. For a young man, it's impressive."

Celebrini, who missed Sunday's practice to rest a lower-body issue picked up during Saturday's loss in Ottawa, sounded eager to step into the spotlight in the centre of the hockey universe.

"It's going to be cool," he said of his first game in Toronto. "It's one of the oldest franchises and you see the history in the rafters and obviously a very good team that we're playing. I'm just excited."

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The Leafs did not hold a full skate on Monday morning, but Matthews was in the building and came over to the Sharks dressing room to give rookie Will Smith a signed stick.

"It was cool," the 19-year-old right winger said. "Obviously grew up watching him a bit. I'm into sticks a lot, so I try to ask some guys."

The pair had met once previously but spoke only briefly. The conversation was a bit longer on Monday.

Where will the Matthews stick rank in Smith's collection?

"It will be up there," the Boston native said with a smile. "I got a couple ones. Gotta see where it ranks when I get back home ... It's all black. I saw that. And the nameplate says, 'Papi 34' so I saw that quick."

While Smith admires Matthews, he actually studied Mitch Marner and William Nylander a bit closer while rising through the ranks.

"They're both righties too," he said. "So, I like watching them."

No surprise, Smith is struck by Marner's playmaking ability.

"When he's out there he's always making something happen and making his linemates better," the Boston College product said. "It's pretty cool to watch."

Smith chuckles when asked about Nylander, who scored the overtime winner for the Leafs on Sunday in Pittsburgh.

"He's just silky out there and makes plays," Smith noted. "And he's got a little bit of flash to him too, so it's pretty cool to watch."

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San Jose sits dead last in the NHL standings and the path back to contention is not going to be quick. 

Warsofsky believes his young stars can learn from seeing what Toronto's core has gone through. The Leafs have won just one playoff series in their first eight seasons with Matthews, Marner and Nylander.

"It takes those guys time to grow, and they go through failures," Warsofsky said. "That is life. You're going to fail. You're not just going to show up in the National Hockey League and end up in the Stanley Cup final. You gotta go through some things. You gotta go through some failure. You gotta go through some adversity.

“When I look at Mack and Will and their situation, it's going to take them some time. It's not going to happen overnight in the way we want them to play and how they have to play with extreme detail to win hockey games, because I just saw Auston and Mitch [go through] it too. That's the evolution of being a superstar hockey player."

What Warsofsky sees now is a Leafs core that is ready to win.

"Oh, man, probably a team that could be there at the end," he said. "You look up and down their lineup, they're deep ... [Berube's] done a really good job of having an identity where it's going to win in the playoffs. The way they forecheck, one of the better forechecking teams in the league. For what they have, it's really impressive."

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Celebrini and Smith are being mentored by a couple of Sharks legends who also mentored Matthews, Marner and Nylander during late-career cameos in Toronto.

Celebrini is living with Joe Thornton, who spent one season in Toronto (2020-21).

"He's just so positive," Celebrini said. "Every day he just brings energy and joy. It never seems like there's a bad day for him, so I think that's something positive for me. Whenever I get to see him at home or whatever, it's great to have that positivity and someone to come home to who's always happy and always keeping you going."

Smith is living with Patrick Marleau, who played two seasons in Toronto (2017-19).

"Sometimes we talk about how crazy it is," Smith said of his conversations with Celebrini. "Living in their house and doing regular family stuff like playing board games at night and cards and, 'He's going to be in the Hall of Fame,' so it's pretty crazy."

Smith notes he's asked Marleau and Thornton countless questions about hockey and life in general.

"I know Auston and Mitch were close with them, so they talk about them and how they enjoyed it," Smith said.

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Chris Tanev skated on Monday morning. It is the first time the defenceman has been spotted on the ice since suffering an upper-body injury in Boston last Tuesday.

Tanev sustained the injury on a hit into the boards by Johnny Beecher. He is eligible to be activated off injured reserve for Wednesday's game against the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Leafs have looked a bit leaky without the shutdown defender allowing 11 goals in the past three games.  

"It's not how we wanted to draw it up, but it happens sometimes," Berube said after Sunday's 6-5 overtime win in Pittsburgh. "We made a couple mistakes and put ourselves in a little bit of a hole, but guys stayed with it, climbed out of it, found a way to get a win, which is great. Just kind of a little too high event of a game."

Steven Lorentz, who missed Sunday's game with an undisclosed injury, also skated on Monday morning.

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Calle Jarnkrok is expected to be activated off long term injured reserve on Monday and make his season debut. The 33-year-old forward has been sidelined since undergoing groin and hernia surgery in October.

"He's been looking great in practice," said Nylander. "It's been a long road for him to get back. Tough, weird injury that he had that he had to get surgery for, but he's done an incredible job and hopefully he'll be ready to play."

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Anthony Stolarz was the first goalie off the ice on Monday morning and will start against the Sharks. He's coming off a stellar performance on Friday in New York where he stopped 33 of 35 shots to beat the Rangers. Stolarz liked how he tracked the puck at Madison Square Garden.

"They had a lot of guys rolling three high," he noted. "[Artemi] Panarin, [Mika] Zibanejad, they were looking for seams. I think I tracked the seam passes well. I was trying to beat the pass on my feet instead of just sliding."

Stolarz has won all four of his starts since returning from a knee injury. His .927 save percentage leads all goalies this season (minimum 20 games played).

Stolarz is also 10-1-0 with a .928 save percentage in his career against San Jose.

Alexandar Georgiev gets the start for the Sharks. Matthews has three goals in nine career games against Georgiev.

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Sharks defenceman Timothy Liljegren will face his old team for the first time since being traded by the Leafs on Halloween.

"He's playing some of his best hockey right now," said Warsofsky. "With the trade, he had a good start with us and then averaged out his game a little bit and now he's kind of finding it again here. He's still a younger guy and trying to figure out his identity and trying to do it more consistently."

Liljegren, Toronto's first-round pick in 2017, was traded after an underwhelming training camp landed the 25-year-old in the press box as a healthy scratch. He played just one game with the Leafs this season before the trade.

"Our situation is a lot different than the Leafs, right," said Warsofsky. "He's got a chance to really establish himself as a top-four guy that can play some meaningful minutes, can help on our power play, and move pucks, and this is a good opportunity."

Liljegren scored his fifth goal of the season on Saturday in Ottawa. He has 10 points in 46 games with the Sharks.

"He's growing with the rest of us and getting a little more confident," said Celebrini.

The Sharks practised at Coca-Cola Coliseum on Sunday where Liljegren made his North American debut with the Marlies and celebrated a Calder Cup championship in 2018. His name is on the wall along with the other Marlies who have graduated from the AHL club to the Leafs.  

"It was cool to see his name up top," Smith said. "Excited for him ... It means a lot."

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With 5.7 seconds left in the second period on Sunday, the Penguins had a faceoff in the Leafs end. They won the draw back to defenceman Erik Karlsson, who looked to feed Evgeni Malkin in the slot. But Leafs winger Matthew Knies intercepted the pass.

"I saw it was going to be a one-timer to Malkin there," Knies told TSN. "I was just trying to take that away and I caught them trying to force that play."

Knies immediately took off down the ice. Teammates on the bench screamed about the dwindling clock.

"Everyone was yelling at me to shoot it by the red line, so I was kind of nervous," he said. "I was kind of in shock so I'm glad I didn't shoot it at the red line ... I didn't know when to shoot it."

It turns out Knies judged it perfectly.

"What was it, one millisecond [left]?" said Nylander with a smile. "Yeah, that's crazy."

Knies officially beat Penguins goalie Joel Blomqvist with 0.1 left on the clock. He didn't even think about where to shoot.

"Once I got in a good spot and I felt I was running out of time I just tried to rip it on net as fast as I could, really," he said.

The green light signalling the end of the period went off instead of the red light for a goal.

"When I looked up I saw that green little buzzer go off after," Knies said. "So, I was hoping it was good there."

"I've played almost 1,100 games," Karlsson told reporters in the Penguins dressing room. "That's never happened with that little time left. It's pretty much like a freak thing. I think we executed as fast as we could. It's just that they get a jump on it."

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On Saturday night, Max Domi received a call from his dad, Tie Domi, and Wayne Gretzky, who wished him a happy birthday. Gretzky also offered up some advice.

"He said, 'Make sure you shoot the puck. I'll be watching,'" said Domi, who turned 30 on Sunday. "Wayne Gretzky's the greatest player of all time, he's why I play hockey, so to get a call from a guy that is literally the best ever was pretty special."

Domi opened the scoring for the Leafs on Sunday in the first period.

"To pot one, even though it was a complete tap in, that one was for him," Domi said of Gretzky. "So, super grateful. He makes me so proud to be Canadian."

The goal was Domi's first since Dec. 20 and snapped a 26-game drought. Domi has consistently said he's not worried about his lack of goals this season.

"I mean, like I've always said, I don't care about scoring goals," he said. "That's not why we play. But it's a huge win."

Domi has scored just four times in 52 games. His previous three goals all came in a three-game stretch in December.

"I think it bothers him," Berube said. "It would bother any player, but he's a positive guy. He just stays with it and just comes and plays and works. He's not a guy that complains about it. He puts that on himself and he keeps things internally. He doesn't express too much about it. He just keeps playing and working at it. For me, since the break he's played good hockey for us."

Domi keeps any angst about goal scoring internal. He also kept his birthday quiet.

"I did not know until [Berube] said it," Knies noted with a grin. "Then guys are a little upset that he did not put any money [on the board] for the game. But happy birthday to him." 

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Leafs lines in Sunday's game:

Knies - Matthews - Marner
Holmberg - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Domi - Robertson
Dewar - Kampf - Reaves

Rielly - Ekman-Larsson
McCabe - Myers
Benoit - Timmins

Woll
Stolarz