Maple Leafs and Avalanche display commitment to defending in tight-checking affair

TORONTO – Ken Hitchcock, the fourth-winningest head coach in NHL history, had a simple point to make during an educated rant this season.

While the game has gotten much faster and freer since Hitchcock won his Stanley Cup at the turn of the century, one thing has not changed.

“The teams that check are going to win. And the teams that check pay attention to detail,” Hitchcock said, during a recent appearance on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. 

“Those are the two things that still matter, no matter the skill level.”

Hitch would’ve loved the national attention given to Wednesday’s showdown between the champion Colorado Avalanche and the contender Toronto Maple Leafs, a pair of squads blessed with oodles of talent but now committed to the boring yet effective details of defending.

’Twas a coach’s dream, this one.

The rink sizzled with plenty of guys who either have already won or could capture individual hardware, yet they all operated with a team-first, defend-first mentality.

The result: a tidy but hard-earned 2-1 shootout victory for the visitors, decided by one deflected power-play marker and Nathan MacKinnon’s five-hole slip in the “skills competition” (Sheldon Keefe’s term) that follows Period 4.

Toronto’s Morgan Rielly scored the night’s lone even-strength goal on the Maple Leafs’ first shot on goal, then Alexander Georgiev stopped the next 17 behind some stingy defenders.

“Tight-checking game, right?” Avalanche coach Jared Bedar said. “Tough to create scoring chances for both teams, I think. When you saw a breakdown, it’s because top-end players were creating something out of nothing.”

Multi-game goal streaks for both Auston Matthews and MacKinnon came to a crashing halt, as shots were kept scarce and to the outside.

The Avalanche limited the Maple Leafs to 18 shots, their fewest all season.

“They checked extremely hard. They show you what a Stanley Cup–winning team does in terms of the defending, checking. They’re well known for the offence they can generate with their elite players, but they defend extremely hard and make it difficult on you to get to their net.

“Not a lot of offence available.”

Colorado had two more power-plays than the Maple Leafs, but the Avs killed off three penalties and limited the mighty Leafs to a scant four high-danger chances through 65 minutes. This despite Matthews and Marner seeing more ice than they have all season long.

“A lot of it would come back to the mobility of their defence. They’re just up on top of you,” Keefe commended. “They they're up tight. They recover well. You feel like you're in and you're gonna get some space — and they close the space. 

“You look to get pucks behind them, and they get body position right away and win the race. I thought the mobility of the defence was a real problem for us tonight in terms of getting through the neutral zone and getting on the attack.”

The Maple Leafs should get used to opponents going the extra stride to suffocate them.

“Toronto has a lot of skill guys,” Mikko Rantanen says. “If you give too much room, they’re gonna make you pay. So, I think we’ve been focusing on really the D-zone and try to close things quickly.”

The Avalanche may be the defending champions, but injuries and inconsistency had them muddling around the wild card in the weaker conference.

As it awaits the healthy return of key players like Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen and Josh Manson, Colorado is building a more complete game, sharpening its blades for a title defence. The division title is closing within reach.

Bednar was happy to frame his annual trip to Scotiabank Arena as a litmus test.

“It's a team we want to measure ourselves against. All the best teams in the East, when we get an opportunity to play them, we want to make sure we’re playing our best.” Bednar said.

“I like their team a lot. I like the way they play. Obviously, they’ve got some firepower with some stars. But committed lineup now. And deeper probably than they've ever been in a lot of positions. They're a tough team. And when you get everyone kind of buying into their role and in the right spots, it makes them tough to beat.”

Bednar could have just as easily been talking about his own group, which has ripped off three wins in a row.

“It’s just commitment and hard work and just paying attention to the details,” Bednar says. “When we play with that type of commitment and dedication to the checking side of things, we’re pretty good at it.”

Ditto for the Maple Leafs.

Fox’s Fast 5

• The Maple Leafs dressed 11 forwards. 

The Avalanche dressed 12 and used Alex Galchenyuk all of 3:22.

Matthews set a season-high in ice time (26:52), and Marner set a career high (29:10).

• Keefe said his promotion of Calle Järnkrok to Matthews’ top line had more to do with wanting to pair Alexander Kerfoot and Sam Lafferty, but Järnkrok was excellent Monday and flying again Wednesday.

The utility winger was plus-1 with an assist. He was fierce on the forecheck and threw a game-high four hits. The Leafs outshot the Avs 7-4 when Järnkrok was on the ice.

“He works hard,” Matthews says. “His release is pretty impressive, too. Just a really smart player. I find he's just in really good spots all over the ice, makes plays and hunts pucks.” 

• Ex-Leaf Denis Malgin returned to Toronto hot, having pumped six goals in his past 14 games for Colorado and earning a promotion to the second line with Artturi Lehkonen breaking a finger.

“Scoring didn't come easy probably here in Toronto, looked like, and then when he first came to us,” Bednar said. 

“But he's gotten a little confidence, he’s hit a couple hot streaks and been doing the right thing. He clearly thinks the game like a top-six forward and has that kind of ability. When we need a guy, if we're missing a guy, then he's been the guy to go up and try to help us in those scoring areas.”

• Quote of the Day.

“If it wasn’t for Connor McDavid, the whole world would be talking about how great Nathan MacKinnon is.” —Bruce Boudreau

• With commissioner Gary Bettman reinforcing his love for the current playoff format, telling reporters at the GM meetings that he’s not looking to make changes, here’s what the hypothetical 1-8 matchups would look like in the Eastern Conference: Bruins-Islanders, Hurricanes-Penguins, Devils-Lightning, Leafs-Rangers.