This one felt like the turning of a page, a fresh chapter.
The first night long-serving Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock returned to Joe Louis Arena and instead stood behind the visitors’ bench, his team lost decisively, 4-0.
That was Oct. 9, 2015, the beginning of the 25th consecutive season in which the club Babcock departed would go on to make the playoffs — a streak across all sports. And a season that would end Babcock’s personal post-season run.
Skip ahead 15 months, and it’s the Toronto Maple Leafs controlling a 4-0 win at The Joe. It’s Toronto in playoff position and Detroit performing like an organization destined for the lottery.
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The parity is so thick in the Eastern Conference that the worst six teams began the night clumped together with 49 standings points apiece.
“We need a win today, and so do they,” Babcock told reporters prior to a high-paced affair.
Here are eight takeaways from the win Detroit needed and the one Toronto sped away with.
Matthews keeps making magic
Auston Matthews needed just three quick, beautiful touches to score his 23rd goal in first 46 NHL games, an unassisted slice of poetry.
One: He steals the puck from Jonathan Ericsson at the Wings’ doorstep and sweeps it between Frans Nielsen’s outstretched legs and past a swatting stick. Two: Matthews kicks the puck off the instep of his own skate. Three: He backhand-roofs it past Peter Mrazek’s glove.
The last player to score in the previous Red Wings-Maple Leafs tilt (you might remember that one) was first to get on the board Wednesday.
With that marker, Matthews tied teammate Mitchell Marner for the lead in rookie scoring (39 points).
“We drive each other a lot,” Matthews told reporters. “This is kinda the core group moving forward. We want to be here a long time. We want to win and get better every day.”
Kadri working hard on those Selke dreams
“I want to be one of the best two-way forwards in the league,” Nazem Kadri told Hockey Central Tuesday. “Now it seems it might be achievable.”
Once so focused on dazzling in the offensive zone, the Maple Leafs centre said he dreams of becoming a contender for the Selke Trophy, awarded to the best defensive forward, and he backed up those aspirations with two stellar backchecks Wednesday.
Early in the contest, Kadri hustled back to cleanly bust up a Red Wings two-on-one by lifting Tomas Jurco’s stick just as the pass was coming his way.
Later, he would make the highlight shows by diving on his stomach, reaching and sweeping a poke check to explode another Detroit two-on-one, this one arriving on the Leafs’ power play.
For good measure, Kadri and his linemates executed a hard cycle play in the second frame, and the pivot notched his 14th assist when a rare Roman Polak slap shot found the back of the net. The Leafs’ cat lover now has 13 points over his past 10 games.
Red Wings’ playoff streak won’t get any trade deadline help
Though Detroit will not consider tanking — hey, the Wings had points in six consecutive games coming into this one — general manager Ken Holland did reveal his deadline strategy to Hockey Central during a pre-game interview.
“I don’t see us being a buyer. The question is, do we become a seller or do we stand pat?” Holland said. “We certainly expected to be a little bit higher in the standings.”
If Holland still believes his group can extend its streak by late February, he’ll keep his UFAs. If not, he will start shipping out expiring contracts.
Vanek is healthy; Rielly is not
Detroit’s most efficient scorer this season, Thomas Vanek (UFA alert!), returned to the lineup after missing a couple games with a lower-body injury and tied for the team lead in shots, with two.
Morgan Rielly again sat out with a reported ankle injury. He’ll miss his fifth consecutive game Thursday, when Toronto travels to Philadelphia.
The Leafs are a respectable 2-1-1 without their top defenceman. Babcock told reporters Rielly would be ready to go after the all-star break.
Andersen does something no Leaf had done in four years
Locked in from puck drop, the Leafs netminder stopped all 22 Red Wings shots, including stuffing Darren Helm on a third-period breakaway, to record back-to-back 4-0 shutouts.
He also made a nice bank-pass to Nikita Soshnikov, who beat Mrazek from a bad angle off the rush, and recorded his first assist as a Leaf.
“We have a lot of confidence in him that no matter what team we’re going up against,” Matthews said.
Not since February 2013 has a Toronto goalie posted consecutive shutouts (Ben Scrivens).
Since his shaky start to the campaign, Andersen is flexing an incredible .932 save percentage over his past 26 games. The clock on the great big Dane’s 126:11 shutout streak won’t start ticking again until after the break.
“Good for Andy,” Babcock said. “We made some mistakes there like we’ve been prone to do in the third period. They got behind us on the Helm breakaway, they had a real good chance – kind of a quick-hitter in tight – and we made real good saves on those.”
Babcock confirmed new backup Curtis McElhinney will make his second start as a Leaf in Philadelphia Thursday.
Polak makes Game 600 one to remember
“If you told me when I was 15 that I would play in the NHL for 12 years, I wouldn’t believe you,” Polak told Leafs TV after the morning skate. “I’m just glad to be here right now.”
The rugged, stay-at-home Czech scored his 22nd career goal on a slapper from the point in his 600th career contest.
“Physical every night, determined every night. He’s a real example to our young guys, not by what he says but by what he does,” Babcock said. “We’re thrilled to have him.”
You get a plus, you get a plus, and you get a plus!
James van Riemsdyk beat Mrazek on the backhand — in tight, as he does — for his 15th point in 11 games, meaning all four lines got on the board.
Balance and depth, the stuff coaches dream about.
“I’ve really thought our fourth line has been excellent this last while – very physical, they know they’re coming, good in the faceoff circle,” Babcock said. “It was great to see [Soshnikov] get rewarded.”
Here’s a fun fact: Every single Maple Leafs player, all 18 of them, was a plus on the night.
100-year old team makes history
With the victory, Toronto has now recorded points in 11 consecutive road games, going 9-0-2 in that span. This is a new franchise record.
“The forwards are skating a lot and it just wears out the other team,” Polak said. “We know they played yesterday and they had a tough match against Boston, so we knew they were going to be a little bit tired. We were talking about it before the game. We needed to take advantage of it.”
