TORONTO — Frozen rubber on ice. Twelve bodies and 12 sticks crisscrossing a confined space at high speeds and zipping that vulcanized black thing at even faster ones.
Hockey’s randomness blesses and curses its participants with (un)lucky bounces, and there was no question which of the two Eastern Conference titans benefitted from the puck’s happier fortunes on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena.
“Three goals, three kind of fluky bounces,” Auston Matthews shrugged, following the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-2 loss at home to the New York Rangers.
Because the score belies the performance, no one on the Rangers was overly celebratory. No one on the Leafs was bemoaning a weak effort.
This was two solid, organized teams competing in a tight hockey game. As a result, the margins shrink, and “unlucky bounces” (Morgan Rielly’s term) can be the difference.
After a cautious first frame, Mika Zibanejad opened the scoring in the second period when an errant Blake Wheeler pass that clicked off his skate as he was flying by the net and squeaked into Martin Jones’ cage.
Alexis Lafreniere ripped a decent but stoppable power-play shot from range that changed direction off Rielly’s arm and foiled Jones.
And, later, Artemi Panarin scored on another power-play with a puck that ricocheted off two Maple Leafs defenders, Timothy Liljegren and William Lagesson, before finding its home.
“I mean, they had three goals that just ping-pong their way in. So, unfortunate breaks there,” John Tavares reasoned. “We didn’t get a chance to see our power-play tonight, and I thought we created some good looks and had some opportunities.
“Their goalie was seeing it really well, and we probably could’ve just done a little better job of trying to find second and third [opportunities]and make it a little bit more difficult for him.”
If there was a skill-based separator between the Leafs and the Rangers, it was the performance of their netminders.
Surprise: The one dressing the bona fide No. 1, Igor Shesterkin, with the $22.67 million contract outdueled the third-stringer on an $875,000 deal.
Jones cannot be faulted for the three fluky ones — nor the late empty-netter, of course.
“Those are probably easier to shake off than the shots that beat you straight away,” Jones said. “You gotta think: How many times are they gonna get those bounces? Probably not too often. And that stuff’s out of your control, really.”
Still, the veteran wants a do-over on rushing defenceman Braden Schneider’s third-period game-winner, which broke open a 2-2 deadlock.
Jones wished he’d played Schneider straight up instead of widening his wickets for a poke.
“The third goal is the disappointing one. I’d like to play it a little different,” Jones said. “At that time in the game, who knows what could happen after that?”
That said, Tavares took responsibility for losing the draw, and Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe pointed out a system breakdown that gave Schneider a lane for speed that resulted in his clean path to Jones’ crease.
Watch as left defenceman Jake McCabe turns to the far boards to take the winger, Wheeler. The coach instead wants his D-man clogging the middle lane, thus limiting Schneider’s space to enter the zone with pace:
Wacky bounces, two evenly-matched teams, one mistake, and a couple cashed-in power plays.
“It could’ve been the same score the other way quite easily,” said Keefe, about as unfussed by a Leafs regulation loss as he’s been all season. “It was a strange game.
“The game works in many ways. That’s why you play 82 of these things.”
Fox’s Fast Five
• Matthews now has two goals in back-to-back-to-back nights, at least one in each of his past five games, and 11 over his past seven.
He leads the NHL with 25 on the season, despite playing only 28 games, and has nine multi-goal nights before Christmas. This is silly stuff.
“Fun to watch,” Jones says. “He doesn’t need a lot of time or space. If he gets a shot off, it’s pretty dangerous most of the time. So, hopefully, you can keep it rolling here for us.”
• Some streaks did end: Toronto’s nine-game run with a standings point, Mitch Marner’s three-game goal streak, and Jones’ undefeated status as a Maple Leaf.
• When trailing, Keefe mixed his top four defence pairs for offensive draws and threw out a playmaking duo of Morgan Rielly and Timothy Liljegren.
• Great to see the team-first Tavares and his family get showered with acknowledgment and gifts — a golden hockey stick, a painting, a crystal, plus a $25,000 donation to his charity — in honour of his 1,000th point.
“A moment like this means the world,” Tavares says. “Seeing how [my children]embrace the game as well has been really one of the highlights of my life.”
The mini gold sticks for Tavares’ children, presented by fellow 1,000 Point Club member Darryl Sittler were a nice touch.
“They’re obviously very young, but I think they’ve got a pretty good idea that their dad’s a superstar,” smiles Matthew Knies.
• From one captain to another, the Rangers’ Jacob Trouba says he has “massive” respect for Tavares as a leader.
“He’s come in here with a lot of expectations and pressure, and I think he’s lived up to his end of the bargain — which isn’t an easy thing to do,” Trouba says. “Very impressive player. Someone you have a lot of respect for and look up to, how he’s handled his business and how he goes about his job.”
