TORONTO – Truth be told, Mike Babcock would prefer not to find himself in a situation where he needs to put three of his most offensively gifted forwards on the ice together.
It is only because of forces beyond the coach’s control that Auston Matthews, Nazem Kadri and William Nylander have started taking a shift together immediately after the Leafs kill off a penalty.
"I hate doing it," said Babcock. "It’s not what I want to do."
He also doesn’t want them to sit on the bench getting cold while teammates work the 4-on-5 and then wait another shift or two before seeing action in the regular rotation. As a result, the Kadri-Matthews-Nylander trio has played a little more than 19 minutes together at even strength this season and produced a strong Corsi rating of 59.62 per cent.
In Monday’s 4-0 victory over Calgary, they connected on their first goal – a play that showcased not only each of their individual talents, but also Toronto’s ability to generate quick-strike scores.
It all started with the Flames in great position not long before Kadri scored the 100th goal of his NHL career. Glen Gulutzan was able to put out the fresh Sean Monahan line for an offensive zone draw against Matthews after Jake Gardiner had iced the puck.
The Toronto players were forced to stay on and extend a shift that had already spanned 48 seconds.
"We did get caught out there," said Kadri. "Hadn’t it been for that icing there might have been a (line) change. So thankfully that worked out in our favour."
The Leafs would soon cover the full length of the ice in about six seconds and produce a highlight-reel goal. Here’s the anatomy of how that play came together through the eyes of the players who made it happen.
Matthews – The Clear
The Leafs failed to generate a clean zone exit after Matthews beat Monahan on the faceoff by winning the puck over to Gardiner.
"It was kind of a scrummy play," said Matthews.
He tracked the Flames centre in front of his own net as a point shot came in before getting tangled up in a battle between Connor Carrick and Troy Brouwer, and being knocked to the ice.
The Leafs have been instructed that it’s often a good play to lob the puck into the neutral zone because their skilled forwards have a good chance of recovering it. Matthews spotted Nylander breaking up the middle and decided to fire it in his general direction while down on his side.
"I just tried to get it out there, it wasn’t the best pass," said Matthews. "Knowing Willy, he’s really skilled with hand-eye co-ordination and everything. So I just kind of tried to shoot the puck up there, I think their guy knocked it out of the air and then Willy got the puck."
Because it was briefly handled by a Calgary player, Matthews wouldn’t be given credit for an assist on the goal that followed.
Nylander – The Dish
Nylander was preparing for a foot race into the Calgary zone, but defenceman Brett Kulak knocked the puck out of midair while retreating.
"He took it down," said the Leafs winger.
That forced Nylander to adjust on the fly and quickly swoop back towards centre ice. He was surprised to lose an edge on his skates in the process.
"For some reason I fell," he said.
A lot of players would have seen the play die there. But the 20-year-old spotted Kadri blazing up the left wing and made a second effort by lunging for the puck with only his left hand on the stick.
"I just saw that he was coming," said Nylander. "I could have just maybe tried to get it in (the offensive zone) from lying on the ice, but I just saw him coming and he was open. So I just decided to push it to him."
Kadri – The Finish
Kadri had a head of speed when the puck arrived on his tape and was able to get some separation from the back-checking Johnny Gaudreau.
Last season, when the Leafs centre was producing a career-low shooting percentage of 6.5 per cent, he did some on-ice work with the team’s skills and development coaches around shooting the puck in stride. He also sought to improve his release through off-season training.
"I tried to work on my arm strength," said Kadri. "And the mechanics of the shot – being able to get it off quick enough. I’m really starting to learn that it’s not about the power of your shot, it’s just how quick and accurate you can be."
As he came in on Flames defenceman Deryk Engelland, Kadri pulled the puck back slightly and fired it over the left shoulder of goalie Brian Elliott.
Matthews and Nylander were the first to celebrate with him.
"Two guys made great second-effort plays to get me the puck and I was just able to put it in the back of the net," said Kadri.
The puck was collected and given to the Leafs training staff, who wrapped white tape around it and marked it with: "100th NHL goal."
