‘A beast’: Why Zach Aston-Reese is playing his best hockey for Maple Leafs

TORONTO — A little breakoff group has formed during Toronto Maple Leafs practice sessions.

Goalie coach Curtis Sanford is spending extra time with the netminders, getting them used to stopping tipped pucks, while assistant coach Manny Malhotra works with dirty-goal scorers Ryan O’Reilly and Zach Aston-Reese on redirecting shots and tidying up rebounds in close.

These tip drills have spiked since the arrival of the 2019 Conn Smythe champ O'Reilly to Toronto, and it may be no coincidence that Aston-Reese’s own performance spike shortly after he began pouring in extra work to the net-front skills.

“Maybe Ryan O’Reilly coming,” Aston-Reese said, smiling when asked why his touch around flying pucks has improved.

“It’s fun. You work on tipping it, and you work on finishing that rebound, playing it like it’s a game situation. It’s definitely helped.”

On Tuesday, it helped the depth winger score twice, including a greasy winner, as the Maple Leafs defeated the talent-depleted Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2.

Notching his ninth and 10th goals of the season, Aston-Reese hit double digits for the first time in his six-year career.

Aston-Reese was healthy-scratched shortly after the trade deadline when GM Kyle Dubas sought out a couple of competitive, check-finishing role players in Sam Lafferty and Noel Acciari.

Sheldon Keefe stressed the need for the bubble forward to ratchet up his physicality and energy. The coach demanded two things: effort and consistency.

Be it internal competition, a clarity of role or the anticipation of the playoffs, Aston-Reese has played his best hockey for Toronto over the past month.

“I know they want me to be physical and finishing checks, and it doesn’t have to be blowing up guys every night. It’s just being stiff and aggressive on the puck,” Aston-Reese said.

His teammates farther up the lineup have taken note.

Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews both mentioned, unprompted, that Toronto’s third line of Aston-Reese, Lafferty and David Kampf set the tone in this one.

“He’s just really embraced that role. He’s done a nice job around the net of tipping stuff, getting second rebounds,” Marner said.

“He’s been a beast off the puck of just backtracking, getting on people, using his body and getting leverage off.”

The hard work is paying off, as Aston-Reese has seen his ice time climb to an average of 12:35 through three games in April, a two-and-a-half-minute jump from March.

Keefe points to a chemistry formed with centreman Kämpf.

Essentially, Aston-Reese has formed a partnership with the third-line centre previously occupied by Pierre Engvall, and they’ve benefitted lately from 11-and-7 lineups.

“They’re excited by it. They’re getting more ice time. They're wanting to do well for the team, do well for the coach,” Keefe said. “He’s been excellent.”

The 10 goals are nice. But when you skate behind one of the most top-heavy top-sixes in hockey, the coach doesn’t ask, “How many?” He asks, “How?”

“Scoring the right kind of goals for a guy like him. He’s not cheating for offence, not getting odd-man rushes. He's working for it. He’s around the net. Whether it’s pucks hitting him or he’s tipping it, he’s finding pucks in the slot,” Keefe raved.

“It's all coming from a really good process and working hard. Being above the puck. Being physical. All the while giving up almost nothing defensively.”

Matthews notices Aston-Reese winning more 50/50 battles, and senses an uptick in his determination — invaluable characteristics when the puck drops against Tampa.

“The way he’s been playing,” Matthews said, “that’s what you need from all 20 guys.”

• Forget Toronto’s goaltending depth being put to the test.

Columbus called on its sixth goalie of the season — Cambridge, Ont., native Jet Greaves.

Fathered by a tae kwon do fighter and named after martial arts star Jet Li, the 22-year-old was ecstatic to make his NHL debut in the same arena he would come to cheer on Frederik Andersen, a goalie he loved to follow.

“Anytime I get to play hockey, I’m a happy guy,” Greaves told reporters. “Anytime I get the opportunity to come home and play in Canada, get the Canadian air, it’s a little bit more special.”

Despite the loss, the under-siege Greaves set a franchise record for most saves in a debut (46).

• Nick Abruzzese is on a point-per-game place at the NHL level this season: two assists in his two-game reward callup.

Keefe has noticed a more developed forward than the one who played nine games for the Leafs around this time last season.

“He looks quicker,” Keefe said. “Certainly looks a lot more confident with the puck and assertive. He’s shown in the two games he's played here that if he gets the puck in a good spot, he's going to make a play on it.”

• Johnny Gaudreau plummeted from a career-best plus-64 last season to a career-worst minus-32 this year. (To be fair, the Blue Jackets have a minus-102 goal differential.) Yikes.

• Ilya Samsonov, who is Russian, chose not to wear a Pride decal on his helmet. He was not made available to speak about his decision.

"In the past, Ilya has actually supported Pride events with the Washington Capitals. But with the introduction of the new law in Russia as of this past December, it's definitely created an uncertainty for his family's safety back home," Maple Leafs manager of culture and inclusion Mark Fraser said during the broadcast.

“From my personal perspective of the work I've been able to do with the team, with the club and with the players, Ilya is someone who has most certainly bought in. He truly loves our game and believes that the game should be available and inclusive to all.”

• Brad Larsen on coaching the Eastern Conference’s last-place Blue Jackets:

“To be honest, about halfway through, I was so frustrated and just pissed off — and it got me nowhere. You have to go the other way. ... It’s a challenging year in so many ways. Of course, we had higher expectations.”