Brad Larsen could sense a sag coming.
Not only were his Columbus Blue Jackets facing a motivated Toronto Maple Leafs squad, flying into Ohio sour after consecutive home losses to teams out of playoff position (Buffalo and Vancouver), but his players were tired.
The Jackets were playing their third in four nights, and the two prior games stretched into overtime.
“You hope that we can keep squeezing more juice out of the orange, right? Because these guys need energy to play,” Larsen said pre-game. “That's how we need to play. We got to be in people's faces and on our toes and play aggressive.”
Well, the orange ran dry. And the Maple Leafs took full advantage of fresher legs in a 5-4 victory Monday, thanks to a hot start… and despite a nerve-racking finish.
First-period dominance
The Maple Leafs jumped all over their hosts early and often, caving them in during a dominant first period to the tune of 33 shot attempts, 22 scoring chances and three goals.
This marked the 11th occasion Toronto has scored three or more in the opening frame, doing so more often than any other team.
"The first period was as good as we could ask for. You want to follow that up and keep building on it, but we weren’t able to do that. So, that was the disappointing part of the game," Keefe said.
"But loved how our guys were calm and went out there and made plays to get us our lead back.”
Auston Matthews led the way with fierce effort on some prolonged cycles, an assists, plus his league-leading 40th goal of the season. Matthews now has three consecutive 40-goal campaigns and four total. He’s 24.
“Some of the stuff he does, I just kind of giggle to myself mid-game because it’s pretty remarkable," said Michael Bunting.
"He's one of the best, or the best, in the league."
Goaltending good enough (barely)
Coming off last week’s rough outing against Buffalo, the upbeat Petr Mrazek has put in plenty of work with goaltending coach Steve Briere.
"To be honest, I like where my game's getting," said Mrazek, still trying to bump his save percentage into the .900s. “I just have to improve those small details, do them right, and I'm not worried about my game at all.”
Naturally aggressive in his crease, Mrazek explained that he never had a goalie coach growing up in the Czech Republic. Not until the goalie got to North America was he encouraged to be more selective with those forceful angles.
"We talk about settling in the crease more," Mrazek said. “Be aggressive when I have to be, and don't be as aggressive as I was years ago. [Briere] has been great with that. He's done great things for me and helped me go through the change. I'm trying to settle."
Mrazek wasn’t pressed too hard, but he kept the canon blasts to three during the Jackets’ rally and improved his record to 10-5, thanks to Bunting's clutch third-period winner.
Yes, when it looked like they might run away with the night, the Leafs bent hard in the second period.
Unlike Saturday versus Vancouver, however, they responded after blowing a 3-0 lead and secured the W.
“A win is a win, right?" Mrazek said. "That matters the most.”
Keefe said his goalie "played a lot better than the stat line" and was encouraged by his effort.
Another promotion for Robertson
In the shadows of older brother Jason’s double-hat-trick weekend, Nick Robertson sniped his first regular-season goal. The 20-year-old prospect made good on his top-six trial alongside William Nylander and John Tavares Saturday.
He was rewarded Monday with another promotion — to the Leafs’ second power-play unit.
“He’s looked really good. He’s looked confident. I think moving him up with Willy and John really ignited that line a bit,” Auston Matthews said. “Hopefully he just continues to develop and progress and continues to play with confidence. Because when he’s doing that, he’s obviously a really good player and deserves to be up.”
Robertson admits that in junior he used to dust off the puck before shooting, and it’s a bad habit he’s been encouraged to ditch since turning pro. Give an NHL goalie time to set up, and he’ll make the save.
“I was always taught to not stick-handle and just rip it — and that's what I did,” Robertson said.
Mrazek points out that Robertson loves to shoot five-hole and was not surprised that’s how he notched his first.
“He rips it. He shoots it as hard as anybody here,” said Matthews of the 5-foot-9 sniper. “He’s really strong and uses a lot of down force.”
Make an offer on Domi
Jarmo Kekalainen is a realist.
Despite stronger play of late, his Blue Jackets have a measly 2.8 per cent chance of making the playoffs. So, the GM made public that he will not be renting help in the next two weeks.
And while Kekalainen has vehemently shot down reports that he’s taking calls on pending RFA Patrik Laine and 22-year-old Alexandre Texier, impending UFA Max Domi is a different story.
Kekalainen told Real Kyper & Bourne Monday that Domi’s play has been “inconsistent” and that “we’ll see where we’re at in two weeks,” regarding the forward’s future as a Jacket.
Smart money is on Domi, 27, joining his fourth NHL organization.
The trade bait made noise Monday with a pair of primary assists and a fight against Justin Holl.
Will Lyubushkin earn a promotion?
When Keefe plugged one hole on his defence, he cracked open another.
“You’ve got a spot with [Morgan] Rielly available,” the coach mentioned, making clear that neither young Rasmus Sandin nor Timothy Liljegren has seized that top-four spot.
It’s a problem.
Since Jake Muzzin (concussion) left the lineup, the staff rebalanced its blue line, removing the dependable T.J. Brodie from Morgan Rielly’s right and placing him to Justin Holl’s right.
We agree with the coach that Brodie-Holl has looked sharp, but that has move has destabilized Rielly.
Toronto’s No. 1 defenceman is a minus-6 over his past nine outings and has seen his production cool to just three assists over that span.
We wondered if righty Ilya Lyubushkin could elevate from the bottom pair. Could he work with Rielly?
“He’s in a good place right now,” Keefe cautions.
The coach is impressed with the rugged Russian’s play without the puck but is hesitant to throw too much on his plate too soon as he adjusts to new teammates and systems.
Rielly plays in a ton of offensive situations, and Keefe says Lyubushkin needs to sharpen his skills with the puck.
That said, Keefe labels Lyubushkin “a sponge” — a guy eager to learn and improve.
There is a world where the Russian Bear steps up, tackles harder matchups and assumes a larger penalty-killing role with the Leafs.
“Plays hard. Really reliable. Really good guy. Really good family. Always enjoyed being around him,” says Vancouver’s Connor Garland, a former teammate of Lyubushkin’s in Arizona.
“Plays the way you want guys to play — hardnosed and competes each and every night. So, I'm happy for him to come to a team like this.”
Coach to Laine: “Shooooooot!”
Thoroughly enjoyed hearing Larsen speak so unequivocally on his preferred strategy for Laine when the Finn finds himself on an odd-man rush.
“I want him to shoot the puck every time, to be honest to you. On a 2-on-1, I don't ever want him passing the puck,” the Blue Jackets coach said. “And I've told him that a thousand times, and he listens to me about one out of every 10.”
OK, but Laine is kinda like Phil Kessel in a way: He’s so known for his lethal shot that his excellent passing ability can get overshadowed.
Fun fact: Laine has racked up as many or more assists as he has goals in his past two seasons — and he has a chance to do the same this season (22 goals, 20 helpers).
“I know he can pass the puck. It's not that he doesn't have the ability,” Larsen went on. “Just when you have a shot like that, it's a true weapon. And you want him to use it every time he's got the opportunity, especially when he's been playing the way he has. Every time he shoots it, it feels like it's got a chance to go in. But he's gonna make his reads; I'm not gonna over coach that for him. That'd be silly. He's got very good offensive instincts.”
One-Timers: Rasmus Sandin (illness) and Ondrej Kase (upper body) did not travel to Columbus. The plan was for both to skate back in Toronto Monday and ramp up for a potential lineup return Tuesday versus the Seattle Kraken…. Marner extended his point streak to seven games… Ilya Mikheyev’s wonderful platform year continues; the Cobra is up to a career-best 10 goals through only 27 games played. Not bad for a third-liner who kills penalties…. Alexander Kerfoot ripped a big goal for the fourth line, and Keefe made good on his effort to find him more minutes (14:55).... Campbell starts Tuesday at home. Says Keefe: “I see a guy who looks close to finding his game again.”
