The Toronto Maple Leafs snapped a three-game losing slide with a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night.
There is no such thing as a must-win this early in the season, but with a rested and rolling LA Kings team on the docket in a back-to-back tomorrow and a road date with the high-flying Blues on the weekend, the Leafs needed to nip this mini-slump in the bud against an injury-ravaged Ducks team. It was by no means their most exciting or convincing win of the year, but it was the most important so far.
Some quick late-night thoughts:
– Thought the Leafs played a really solid first but were frustrated by John Gibson, and then showed some signs of impatience in the second period and got a little turnover happy in the neutral zone again. But, a banged-up Anaheim team by no means had their best stuff, Andersen was sturdy in net when they needed him to be, and the Leafs responded with a good third period (70% possession) to get the job done.
– Ron Hainsey was on for all three Leaf goals in this game (+3), picked up two assists, and finished with a 75% CF, with the Leafs outshooting the Ducks 10-1 when he was on the ice. His good gap and stick defending the rush broke up the Anaheim entry at the blue line and kick-started the 2-on-1 the other way preceding the Connor Brown goal, leading to assist number eight of the season. His walk along the blue line to the middle before putting the puck at the net set the stage for Patrick Marleau’s game-winner, giving him nine assists in 13 games – all at even strength. He played a resounding 7:38 of the Leafs’ eight shorthanded minutes in this game, and saved a certain goal on the penalty kill with his shot block on Antoine Vermette after a rebound squirted out to the left faceoff circle early in the second period. Really impressive start for Hainsey in a Leaf sweater; he’s been extremely reliable while playing big minutes in important situations.
– The same goes for Patrick Marleau, who was on for all three Toronto goals as well in his first full game at center for the Leafs. He played against the Ducks’ makeshift top line – Rakell, Perry, Kossila — for a good chunk of his even-strength ice time (5:42) and finished with a 72% CF head to head against Rakell. Really nice finish for his 100th game-winner of his career, as well – a quick backhand slapper in the slot. A good stick in the neutral zone following the lost faceoff led to the Leo Komarov empty-netter to seal the game, too, after Babcock threw out Marleau-Kadri-Komarov for that late draw. It doesn’t sound like Babcock wants to make this move to center at all permanent, but Marleau’s versatility is an asset to his coach in that it’s given Babcock a temporary solution to the JVR-Bozak conundrum while also being able to keep the Matthews line intact. It sounds like he’ll remain between JVR and Brown against LA tomorrow.
– Hard to deny the chemistry between Tyler Bozak and Mitch Marner; they found and read off each other well out there tonight, and both showed lots of jump in one of their better performances of the season. Coming off of the early penalty by Nikita Zaitsev, those two along with Matt Martin gave the Leafs a sustained o-zone shift that got the ball rolling on a good first period for the Leafs (shots were 12-7, 64% possession) and that line was pretty effective overall throughout the night.
– Tonight marks the first time this season that Frederik Andersen has allowed two or fewer in two consecutive. He made 28 saves and there was nothing he could do about the lone Ducks goal, which deflected in off of Andreas Borgman’s skate in front. Andersen seems to like the California road trip; he stopped 67 of 71 (.944 save percentage) over his two starts in LA and San Jose last season and stopped 64 of 67 in his two starts vs. SJ and ANA this week. Just what the doctor ordered.
– Babcock was able to keep all four forward lines pretty clumped together as far as ice time distribution and it sounds like he’ll mix in Kasperi Kapanen up front and Roman Polak on the blue line tomorrow as fresh legs. Against a Kings team that is 4-0-1 on home ice this season, they’ll need the energy in a back-to-back with their backup in net.
Post Game: Mike Babcock
Was there an attention to detail that you liked from your club’s performance tonight?
Babcock: I really liked us in the first and I really liked us in the third. In the second, we got back to turning it over just like we have here lately, and they got some momentum. I thought the penalty kill was good for us. I thought Freddie was solid. Obviously, a big win. Any time you’re struggling, you need to find a way to win a game and get your confidence back and get rolling. This is a big win for our team.
Overall, did you like the new lines tonight?
Babcock: I thought Bozak had a really good game. I thought him and Mitch and Marty were real dominant in the first period, in particular, but I thought those guys had a good game. They’re good players and we need them to be good. That was great to see.
Marleau — what can you say? His 100th game-winner and he was a star tonight. I thought Hainsey was real solid for us, too. We had good players here tonight and that’s positive.
Is that a reason to keep Marleau at center, then?
Babcock: I’m going to for tomorrow. It’s good we had good balance and we didn’t overplay anybody. We’re in a back-to-back with three in four, so I’m going to leave him in the middle there. I’m going to put Kapanen in tomorrow and Polie. We’ll sort out who they go in for as I watch the game.
Is Hainsey a bit of an unsung hero from the outside?
Babcock: I don’t know. Not to me. Guys who know how to play and play right and do good things and lead by example and talk to young guys and make young players better — to me, they’re newfound gold. I think he’s doing great.
Curtis tomorrow night?
Babcock: Yeah, Mac will play tomorrow.
