NEWARK, N.J. — The Maple Leafs hit their former coach with something he seldom had at his disposal during his tenure in Toronto.
Waves of secondary scoring and impactful bottom-six tone-setting.
Before Sheldon Keefe’s home opener in New Jersey was 15 minutes old, the door to the fired coach’s revenge victory had already slammed shut. The money stays on the board.
On Thursday, Toronto’s bottom-six forwards didn’t come to tread water or warm benches.
Nah.
They came to build a 3-0 lead that Craig Berube’s defence-first Leafs would never relinquish — even with emotional newbie Dennis Hildeby making his career debut in the pipes.
On the strength of third- and fourth-line goals by two wingers who had to earn their way onto Berube’s roster via tryout (Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz) and another whose mediocre camp got him healthy-scratched in Game 1 (Bobby McMann), the Maple Leafs struck thrice early.
All thanks to three guys whose combined salaries don’t add up to $3 million.
“After that first one, you kind of get that goal juice, and the boys feed off of that a little bit. So, our line was feeling it pretty good,” Lorentz said, moments after posing in the visitors’ room for a photo with his taped-up first-goal-as-a-Leaf puck.
“I think (Berube) just likes it a little more old-school, and it’s a winning formula. You look back at the winning teams over the past few seasons, you obviously have your skill guys that are gifted, and they can make all the plays. And those guys need to do their thing.
“But he wants big bodies and guys who can skate and stuff to create that energy. That’s the identity. So, when you can come in and bang and skate and go to the net and, every once in a while, bang one in, like we did tonight, it’s a lot of fun.
“You know, that’s the kind of style that does well in the playoffs.”
The kind of style that turns a buzzing first-night home crowd restless.
The Leafs would go on to register their first win — and dish Keefe his first-ever loss coaching against a former team — by a score of 4-2.
John Tavares and Max Domi linked for a well-executed insurance marker, but it was the contributions from below that bode well for long-term success.
Could this team (finally) start inching its way from top heavy to just plain ol’ heavy?
“Just houndin’ on the forecheck and playing hard down low. And got rewarded with some greasy goals around the net. We gotta keep improving on that. We’re getting there,” Berube said.
We’re only two nights deep, and Berube is already walking through some of Keefe’s old trials: an unavailable No. 1 goalie, an icy power play, and a work-in-progress penalty kill.
But as his group irons out the kinks, it is still tilting the ice at even-strength and benefitting from solid showings in net by goalies No. 2 and No. 4 on the original depth chart.
Surely the big, swift lead helped ease the big guy’s nerves, but Hildeby settled in well for a first-time NHLer with 24 hours’ notice, making 22 saves on 24 shots for a win that was punctuated by whoops and cheers from his teammates post-game.
“Better than quiet,” the soft-spoke Swede said, smiling.
“It was a lot of emotions for me to handle, honestly. I wanted to make it feel like any other game for my performance’s sake. I try to enjoy it as much as possible, too, but it was a little bit of a back and forth how to handle it, not getting too emotional.”
McMann kept his emotions in check after getting scratched in Wednesday’s season opener in Montreal, delivering a heckuva snipe.
“When you have the depth that we do, obviously some guys are going to come out, maybe not when they deserve to — and it’s unfortunate part of the business,” explained Lorentz, who experienced a similar situation in Florida last season. “That’s a good problem to have. It keeps your guys competitive. And it’s that inner competitiveness that keeps the bus going forward.
“That’s how you win hockey games. Because when you get lackadaisical and guys are content, it’s easy to kind of sit back and take things for granted.
“That just gives a coach peace of mind, that it doesn’t matter who he’s got on that fourth line, we’re going to show up and just play our game.”
What a game for firsts: Pacioretty and Lorentz’s first goals for their new squad, Berube’s first W coaching a Canadian team, the first time in a long time that the Leafs’ bottom six has clicked so soon, and an unlikely first win for Hildeby.
“The Beast? Calm, cool, collected, just like the other big boy we got. Yeah, he looked like a vet in there tonight,” Lorentz beamed. “Obviously, a lot of high-end skill up and down their lineup — and he just was so poised.”
Still jacked up on goal juice after the buzzer, Lorentz checked his phone and saw a text message waiting from his dad, Mark, who grew up a Leafs fan, too.
It read: “How are you gonna top that on Saturday night?”
Fox’s Fast Five
• Toronto has already taken 10 minor penalties in two games. That’s too many.
“We got to be better, for sure. There’s three penalties (tonight) for me that are non-negotiables. There’s no reason for them,” Berube said.
• Have a healthy Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander all been held off the scoresheet in the first two games of a season before?
Nope. Not until now.
Going against one of the game’s better defensive centres, Nico Hischier, Matthews didn’t register a shot all game — for the first time since Nov. 6, 2022.
• Breakaway moves notwithstanding, Oliver Ekman-Larsson has looked strong so far. More edge than advertised.
• When Brett Pesce returns to action — and makes his Devils debut — is still unknown as he rehabilitates his fractured fibula.
A free agent with plenty of interest from around the league (the Maple Leafs included) on July 1, the Tarrytown, N.Y., native inked a frontloaded, six-year, $33-million deal to play close to home.
Jersey is making do without Pesce and Calder finalist Luke Hughes on their blueline.
• In honour of Salem, N.J., natives Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, the Devils unveiled a new MVP award to be given in their name at the New Jersey state hockey championships.
