TORONTO – All bangers, all the time.
These days, Toronto Maple Leafs games would fit nicely on Kendall Roy’s approved playlist for his 40th birthday bash.
Everything they touch is lit and loud and blends right into another crowd-pleaser.
Road games, homes games, tight ones, back-to-backs, blowouts… it’s all good.
No skips. Just heat.
The arrival of Nazem Kadri’s Colorado Avalanche combined with the return of perennial MVP candidate Nathan MacKinnon (lower body) combined with a lingering case of Leafs jetlag had positioned Wednesday’s showdown of the hottest team in the East versus the hottest team in the West as (gasp) a potential Stanley Cup preview.
“It’s possible to maybe see both these teams in the end. That could definitely be a possibility,” Kadri said in a pregame sit-down with Christine Simpson.
Both sides burn around an in-their-prime nucleus of Olympic hopefuls and elite offensive minds. Yet both have wilted to their postseason demons so often that springtime is beginning to feel more like a threat than a promise. (Toronto’s nemesis is Round 1; Colorado’s is Round 2.)
Undisputedly, these are excellent regular-season teams. So, it comes as no surprise that both rooms are speaking more about developing winning habits and asserting their stamp on each contest than they are about their place in the standings.
Leafs captain John Tavares surveyed at the Avalanche and saw “our toughest test.”
Coach Sheldon Keefe welcomed MacKinnon back with open arms: “We like to play against the best. We should be excited by the opportunity to compete against him.”
Well, if Wednesday was a measuring stick for the ride, the Maple Leafs’ 8-3 victory proved them plenty tall enough to ride the Yukon Striker. Maybe without a seatbelt.
“I see a well-rounded team now,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said of his opponent.
“I feel a real strong commitment to manage the puck properly, real good support of one another through all three zones. It’s tough to find a lot of room and space in the D-zone, so [the Leafs are]committed in that regard. And still very dangerous offensively, whether it’s on the rush, O-zone play, power play, all those things that they’ve always had. But I think playing away from the puck is much improved, and it looks like a better buy-in from them.”
Tavares concurs: “We’ve been really consistent over the last little while with the way we’re defending and just the mindset and the attitude.”
The Leafs proved it against the best offence in the league, getting clutch saves from Jack Campbell that have grown routine and pushing back two times stronger when the Avs tried to claw out of an early 3-0 deficit.
Toronto balanced its attack, getting goals from all four lines, plus defenceman Travis Dermott, a frequent scratch who picked a fine time for his first of the season.
Dermott
— Patric Sandin (@psan1969) December 2, 2021
The William Nylander–Tavares–Alexander Kerfoot trio was stellar.
Even better was the moustache-free Auston Matthews, who extended his goal streak to six in four games with a pair of handsy layups in tight off Mitch Marner passes, plus a patented post-in wrister off a left-wing rush to complete the hat trick.
A swelling “AUS-TON MAT-THEWS!” chant thundered through Scotiabank Arena as hats rained from the bleachers. Those same chants later spilled out onto Queens Quay.
“It definitely gives you chills down your spine,” Matthews said. “This is a really special place to play, and it’s fun when the crowd gets going like that.”
Matthews’ wrist shot was almost refreshing, since it seems like all the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder does lately is post up like Patrick Ewing in the blue paint and wait to get fed.
“He’s a big guy. Strong. He competes for ice and gets a stick available. So, he’s a lot to handle for sure. He’s scored a lot of goals from that space over his career,” Keefe said of Matthews’ net-front presence.
“It has gotten him moving here 5-on-5, but he is who he is because he scores goals in multiple ways. You shut him down one way, he adjusts and finds another. That’s what great goal scorers do.”
Added Dermott: “As a D-man, you just hope that you’re on Toronto for a long time so you’ll be on his team.”
Here is what great hockey teams do: win 15 of 17 games, outscore the opposition 26-6 over a five-game streak, and climb to the top of the NHL standings.
“It’s definitely growth,” Tavares said. “We got a really good sense right now [of]the way we need to play and what’s bringing us success.
“You just never want to feel settled or comfortable. You just want to keep going.”
The mission in the Leafs room these days, Keefe says, is “to go 1-0 every night.”
To not dwell on the past or get caught daydreaming about the future.
If you allow yourself to dance in the now — to not trip up on what-happeneds and what-ifs — all you’ll hear is bangers.
All the time.
What is Auston Matthews doing tomorrow after scoring his 4th career hat trick? pic.twitter.com/LZ5vtc2vvw
— Tim and Friends (@timandfriends) December 2, 2021
Fox’s Fast 5
• Kirill Semyonov was demoted to the Marlies Monday, then placed on waivers Wednesday for purposes of contract termination.
He plans to rejoin his KHL home club of Omsk Avangard. Though a point-per-game AHLer, Semyonov did not register a point in limited use during his three NHL games.
He’ll make more money overseas than with the Marlies, and with Kyle Clifford getting acquired and Ilya Mikheyev on the mend, his chances of sticking with the Leafs were feeling slim.
“Particularly for the Russian players from the KHL, they leave some pretty good situations there [to chase an NHL dream],” Keefe explained. “Semy and his camp just on [Monday’s] flight home from L.A. let us know that he wanted to head back, and Kyle [Dubas] was supportive of that.”
• When Colorado’s projected starter, Darcy Kuemper, pulled out after morning skate with an upper-body injury, the Avalanche scrambled to get called-up backup Justus Annunen on a plane.
In the meantime, University of Toronto EBUG Jett Alexander was called into action. Wearing No. 1 — because his preferred No. 33 in stuck up in the Denver rafters under the name “Roy” — the 22-year-old participated in warmup, got pad-taps from MacKinnon and Kadri, and was the last Av to leave the ice.
Soak it in, kid.
He didn’t sit on the bench during the game, however, and Annunen showed up in time for the second period.
• Leafs prospect Matthew Knies was named to the preliminary roster for the 2022 U.S. national junior team. Drafted in the second round of 2021, the 19-year-old left wing has seven goals and 15 points through his first 16 games with the University of Minnesota.
• Had Kyle Clifford not bowled over Petr Mrazek on that fateful night of February 2020, the legend of David Ayres would have never been written.
United as Leafs, the two now sit next to each other on the plane and play poker. Yes, they spoke about the collision. “All good,” Mrazek smiled. “We talked about it a little bit. He said he was going to go for a breakaway. He was making a joke about that. He’s a great guy. Those things, when you play against a team, happen.
“You don’t think at that moment that you don’t have any backup on the bench. You just go for the puck if you have to. I would go for the puck again.”
• “I feel like I’m 16 again.” —Auston Matthews, post-shave
“He looks like he’s 10.” —Nazem Kadri on Matthews, post-shave
