There’s an old proverb about a Chinese farmer in which bad things happen, but the wise farmer doesn’t bemoan them, not knowing what future events they may lead to. Similarly, when good things happen he’s hesitant to celebrate them, as what it all means in the big picture remains unclear.
When Kyle Clifford went to the dressing room after taking a five-minute major following a hit from behind, it looked pretty bad for the Leafs. It wasn’t hard to be the Chinese farmer, though, and see a way the negative could spin positively if they could kill off five straight minutes against Tampa’s power play, which had been ticking along at 40 per cent over the last 10 games of the regular season. That positive would be a surge of momentum from having withstood the early pressure and survived, as well as enjoying the increased likelihood of getting some power plays themselves.
Of course, that outcome was far from guaranteed, given Tampa’s deadly top talent.
As we now know, the Leafs actually out-chanced the Bolts over those five minutes, with an extremely prepared penalty kill that squeezed Tampa’s breakout, hopping all over Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point before those skilled skaters had time to think.
There’s another reason why the Leafs PK was so successful at that particular point in the game though: it was the perfect assignment at the perfect time for a team buzzing on energy like they’d just mainlined espresso, who was handling pucks like … well, like they’d just mainlined espresso.
That first seven minutes saw John Tavares turn one over behind his own net. Jake Muzzin went full Hulk on a glass-and-out when he had time, Alex Kerfoot iced one unnecessarily, and Mitch Marner handled a couple pucks at the opposing blue line in very un-Marner-like fashion.
Everything was going forward off their sticks quicker than it needed to be. North-south panic plays aren’t what the Leafs are.
That penalty kill, then, what a perfect assignment to use their excess energy effectively, right? You get to use your feet and go-go-go, you skate and you pressure and you don’t think about handling the puck. You make them try to make plays under duress while the crowd screams and the pressure mounts. The expectations were handed to Tampa, then. The first time Leafs players hung on to the puck with much success was on those rushes back up the ice while short-handed. With no offensive expectations, they were able to find their confidence.
And with the success of overcoming a major hurdle on the backs of hustle, suddenly they were a dozen minutes into the first, not trailing despite being short for seven minutes, and they had something to build on. It doesn’t make the Clifford play any less dumb that it worked out well. (I have to note, it’s a little crazy that Clifford threw that bad check wearing the same No. 43 that Nazem Kadri wore during his cross-the-line playoff moments in a Leafs sweater.) But it ended up being exactly what they needed at exactly the right time, as awful as the initial situation looked.
Eight other thoughts:
The perfect start for Matthews/Marner
After last season’s playoff disappointment and their dismal goal output, the last thing Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner needed was a start where the opposing goalie robbed them a few times so they could feel like the universe was conspiring against them. You don’t want those guys focusing on their own stats right now; the regular season and the chases for milestones are over. You want them making the right decisions for the group – which are often about trying to score, yes – but you don’t want that nagging voice in the back of their minds telling them it’s about what they do, and not the team. Because make no mistake, they would be feeling pressure about what they do, they’re only human.
To free them up to play team hockey, having some individual success out of the gate was big. That’s pressure off of them, which is only going to make them better all-around, including offensively.
When you pay a few guys to be your best players, you need them to be just that. Matthews/Marner answered the bell in a big way in Game 1, which sets them up for further success.
Jack Campbell wasn’t challenged often, but he does have back-to-back shut-outs
This whole thing the Leafs have built here hinges on Jack Campbell being at minimum a league average goaltender. If “Soupy” isn’t up to the task, the whole thing comes undone. Not that he needs to be the guy from the first two months of the season, he just can’t be the guy from the … other months of the season. He started playing better down the stretch, and has now posted back-to-back shutouts.
He looked calm and poised, and caught everything that hit him. The Leafs got a few breaks from the Lightning (Stamkos fanning on a backdoor one-timer comes to mind), but make no mistake about it, Campbell looking like this is a big development for Toronto.
The Leafs broke the ice with 1:41 remaining in the first period, and Tampa came out on the next shift with some push. The Leafs kept them to the outside, but make no mistake, the push was there, and Ross Colton made a sneaky play to get a puck on net that resulted in what may have seemed like a pretty harmless save, but given the score and time on the clock and doubt it would’ve put in the Leafs, I thought this save (with some traffic in front, which preceded a zone exit) mattered:
They can’t win without Campbell, and in Game 1 he was up to every challenge.
The Leafs’ question mark players were exclamation marks
Ondrej Kase hadn’t played in nearly two months with concussion issues, and was thrust into a high stimulus environment against an excellent team and placed in the top-six. And somehow, he was great, providing energy and making some good plays and tallying two primary assists in 13:30 of total ice. He changes the look of their lineup when he’s in.
Jake Muzzin had only played twice after his concussion issues, and he was rock solid, scoring and playing physical hockey like he can do at his best. Concussions are always awful, but for a guy whose body has given out in consecutive post-seasons, the silver lining is his machine should be a bit more rested this time around.
The two D that Sheldon Keefe chose to play over a guy who’s been a lineup staple in Justin Holl were great. Timothy Liljegren and Ilya Lyubushkin both did exactly what the team hoped they’d do. Liljegren helped out in all situations, logging over 20 minutes, and Lyubushkin was physical, tangled with Corey Perry and was generally useful.
On a night everything went right, these guys coming up as positives was a great surprise.
A penalty-filled affair
I couldn’t help but watch that first game and see the officials trying to “set the standard” for the series. There’s so much whinging about calling the rulebook from fans, and how the post-season should be called like the regular season, which led to guys playing more at or across the line of legal, which led to more penalties. I have to imagine the Leafs don’t hate that, given the success they’ve had on special teams this year.
Still, it made for some weird ice times, as did the game being out of reach early. Fun fact? Mitch Marner played just five and a half minutes of five-on-five hockey on Monday (screenshot from Natural Stat Trick):
When it was all said and done Monday night, Morgan Rielly played just 17:44, for a guy who you might expect to play closer to 23 minutes per playoff game. What a weird start.
A Praise Chorus
Speaking of good showing, Mark Giordano was super effective both ways, while Rielly looked confident and dangerous in that limited ice time, making a great play hanging on to the puck to get it back to Marner on his goal. (Marner showed poise with it to score, just as Matthews showed poise in the neutral zone to get it somewhere useful for the Leafs, instead of dumping it in.)
William Nylander was absolutely dynamic, and I can’t believe I’m going to say this: Pierre Engvall might have been the most effective Leafs player, period. He was engaged and physical and fast and impactful.
So some individuals were great, and the special teams were too, but the biggest takeaway from Game 1 for me was that the Leafs’ speed felt like the differentiating factor. Tampa has been through the wars and nobody doubts them. But they’re going to have to red line it to keep up with Toronto if the Leafs keep skating like that.
OK enough praise, this feels weird…
What to do with Pat Maroon?
I can’t imagine there’s a moment after Maroon decides he’s “in a fight” with Morgan Rielly where he’s thinking “this is the right thing to do,” given the Leafs D-man clearly isn’t the type to engage in such things, particularly with such a huge lead (Rielly has one prior fight in his career, six years ago against Alex Burrows).
When Rielly grabbed Maroon to pull him out of the pile you could see Maroon realize he had an excuse to go at one of the Leafs’ best. But with injury avoided during that melee, I can’t imagine it being worth Toronto’s while to chase around a guy who plays 10 minutes a night to exact revenge for him justifiably trying to spark something in a game where nothing was going Tampa’s way. And credit to Rielly: I think it’s a great look for the Leafs that a guy who leads them in so many ways was not only willing to take on Jan Rutta next, but that Rutta left not having had an enjoyable experience in the exchange.
Vasilevskiy had an off night
You certainly can’t bank on this happening, but things just broke wrong for Andrei Vasilevskiy. Matthews’ second goal was a sizeable helping of bad luck, and the way the play unfolded on Marner’s goal almost forced Vasilevskiy to guess. I saw it suggested that Tampa should’ve swapped him out after the second and rested him up for Game 2, but I can see the team not wanting to look like they’re rolling over, or not wanting to represent some bigger goalie issue than there really is, or just not wanting to anger him. He wasn’t great, it happens, it’s unlikely to happen often. But one or two “off” Vasilevskiy games would go a long way for the Leafs’ chances.
And finally,
It means next to nothing going in to Game 2
Before Game 1 Jon Cooper mentioned what would happen if they lost the first contest: nothing. They’re a confident group, and a very good team that would dust themselves off and get back at it for Game 2.
Barring injuries and suspensions, outcomes of one game almost never effect the next, particularly in the playoffs. The previous time Tampa and Toronto played it was 8-1 for the Bolts. And so without any disclosed injuries and an opening game win under their belts, the Leafs will set out to prepare for Game 2 and that fully fresh slate. The team may be preaching “never too high, never too low,” but for Leafs fans, it’s safe to take the day to enjoy – for once – a playoff game going perfectly to plan.
