Maple Leafs' Keefe hints at playoff plan with new-look offence

MONTREAL — The results don't matter much these days, but the Toronto Maple Leafs will beat you (and beat you up) for fun anyways.

Credit the buzzy Bell Centre crowd, which did its best to muster passion for an essentially meaningless Saturday night between two teams whose playoff fates had been sealed before puck drop. 

Montreal Canadiens fans lustily booed Auston Matthews and his pursuit of 70 goals throughout a cruisy 4-2 Leafs away win, but the superstar simply laughed off the haters like a Ben Chiarot horse collar.

"Honestly, I kind of find it like a tone of respect," Matthews said with a smile, after another goal and another W. "Especially in a building like this. A big-time hockey city and fan base. So, I don't mind. I don't mind at all."

Yes, there was a casual nature to this one, Toronto's franchise-record-tying 23rd road victory. 

A forgettable first period led to a four-goal barrage by the visitors at even strength in the second period, chasing Montreal starter Sam Montembeault after just a dozen shots.

And although the Habs responded with a couple snipes of their own, Toronto locked things down in a quiet third period and escaped the game unharmed. Unless you count Ryan Reaves' busy knuckles bleeding through bandages during his shirtless post-game scrum.

With just six games left on calendar, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe just wants to get through healthy.

So, while it's difficult to glean major takeaways from a good team thumping a bad one, the most compelling aspect of winger Mitch Marner's long-awaited return date may be Keefe's decision to sprinkle his most potent offensive weapons across three lines.

"Spreads out our depth quite a bit," Matthews said. "And with him back, it gives us a lot of options. Boost to the power play. Boost to the penalty kill. Boost for us five-on-five."

Added Marner: "Just makes our team very deep and very hard to play against. Hard to match up against. We're comfortable playing with anyone. We got a lot of guys that can hop up into bigger roles, and we've seen it throughout the year, and now we're using it to our advantage."

In a furious span of five-and-a-half minutes, the Maple Leafs got goals from all three of their top lines: a deft five-hole tip from Max Domi, a surprise Matthews strike of a friendly bounce, a Matthew Knies rebound pounce off some cycle work, and a one-touch Bobby McMann snipe off the rush.

Sure, the contest lacked some intensity and flow, but a few in-sync shifts did the trick.

"Three lines that can put the puck in their net and play the right way, play the same way," Reaves said. "We got a little bit of everything up and down the lineup. We'll see how it works."

For the new deployment — which splits Matthews and Marner and bumps 96-point man William Nylander to third-line duties — to be effective, everyone must buy in. That's why Keefe had been speaking about the approach with his leaders behind the scenes for a few days before debuting this top nine Saturday.

Nylander didn't blink.

"Let's get trying it so we're ready for playoffs," he told Keefe.

Because Toronto is likely starting Round 1 away from Scotiabank Arena, a balanced attack should make line-matching more difficult for, say, the Panthers' Paul Maurice or Bruins' Jim Montgomery.

"In the playoffs, you know you have to be able to rely on more than one line. You want to be able to just roll your group and not have to overthink it," Keefe said. "This is a step toward looking that way."

Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis knew Keefe's rolling offence would pose a chance going in.

"It's similar when you play Edmonton," St. Louis said. "If you have [Leon] Draisaitl and [Connor] McDavid together, you can kind of have the responsibility for one line, so to speak. And when they start spreading it, you gotta deal with that collectively more. 

"It's a nice thing to have, for them, to be able to spread it. Makes it harder to match your focus on one line, and so it becomes more of a collective challenge."

Domi, who gets to hang on as Matthews' go-to setup man, is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the look.

No surprise, he's a fan of the strategy.

"That's what it takes to win," Domi said. "When it comes to playoff hockey, you need everyone — not just three lines. You need four lines, and you need six defenceman. You need two goalies, and you need some extras as well that are gonna jump in. 

"We're just gearing towards that and looking forward to the challenge."

Fox's Fast Five

• Leafs captain John Tavares builds a strong argument that Matthews should be nominated for both the Hart and Selke trophies: 

"The type of season he's having, what he can potentially do here from a goal-scoring standpoint, and to be as well-rounded as he is, is just even more impressive. He's not just a trigger guy or always put in offensive situations; he plays in all areas of the game. He carries play, wins so many puck battles, [and] his takeaways are exceptional. I don't think he always gets enough credit for just how smart he is and just the positions he puts himself in, especially how hard teams defend him and how he consistently finds openings. 

"He's as well-rounded as a player as you're going to find in our game today. So, it'd be great to see him get the recognition on both those fronts."

• Matthews (64 goals) has crept within one of tying Alex Ovechkin for the most by any active player in a single season. 

Six over the final six games will give him 70 — a benchmark St. Louis said he won't be shocked to see reached in this era. Why not?

"Because the game is more offensive," St. Louis said, matter-of-factly. "The power plays are better. The players are more talented. So, I'm not surprised."

• Reaves dropped the gloves in consecutive games, scoring another decisive victory with his fists. This time over Michael Pezzetta as retribution for a late hit on David Kämpf.

Reaves left the game temporarily to get his punching hand bandaged up but said he was fine post-game.

"The hit on Kämpf was a bit late. I thought it was appropriate," Matthews said. "You just see the energy he brings when he sticks up for guys like that and answers the bell. It's a huge momentum shift.

"He's just an animal, honestly. He's a beast. It's moments like those that you realize how important he is to the team."

• Montreal's Jordan Harris says "it would be a real shame" for the mathematically eliminated Canadiens to not take this final stretch of games seriously and finish strong.

Easier said than done when your club has missed the post-season for three years running.

Domi knows the feeling. This will be just his fourth trip to the dance in nine years.

"It's tough because I think that's why we all play, right? To win the Stanley Cup. And when you lose that opportunity early on, you have a long summer. It's not fun," Domi said.

"The good part for a team that's out of it is, you try and play the role of [spoiler] for another team's chances, or beating teams that are gonna have a chance to win the Stanley Cup just to build your own confidence as a group."

• Simon Benoit was scratched in Toronto's previous trip to Bell Centre, his boyhood cathedral. The defenceman knows he's in a battle to earn a spot in the Game 1.

"Do what I can to prove that I should stay in the lineup, and from there it's up to the coaching staff to decide," he said. 

"I want to show that I should be in that first game. I want them to want me in that first game."