For the second straight night, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ support staff carried the team to a victory. And one trio, in particular, gave Leafs management something to think about as we creep toward an NHL trade deadline that’s now less than two weeks away.
Playing for the second time in as many nights, the Leafs travelled to Illinois and beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2 on Sunday night at the United Center. Believe it or not, it was Toronto’s first 60-minute victory in the Windy City in over 20 years, dating back to a 3-1 victory on Feb. 12, 2003.
One night after the likes of bottom-six forwards Alex Steeves and David Kampf propelled the Buds to a 6-3 home-ice win over the Carolina Hurricanes, the Toronto offence was driven by the third line of Max Domi between Nick Robertson and Bobby McMann. While the 4 Nations Face-Off boys were rather quiet — Canadian Mitch Marner, American Auston Matthews and Swede William Nylander were all held off the scoresheet until Chicago yanked goalie Arvid Soderblom late in the game — Nick Robertson scored a pair, both teed up by great passes from Domi.
As it happens, shortly after Domi set up Robertson for the latter’s first tally in 10 games, Domi nearly found the back of the net himself to end a 23-game drought that dates back to Dec. 20. The Leafs centre came screaming down the wing, sucked the puck toward his body and let fly, ripping a shot past Soderblom that screamed off the crossbar and deflected into the crowd.
Domi, of course, has just three tallies all year and Robertson — now up to 10 goals on the season — has struggled to establish himself as a trusted solider in coach Craig Berube’s army. Domi, in the first year of a four-year contract, is unlikely to be going anywhere ahead of the March 7 deadline. But if, after a season-long struggle to produce the way the team expects, he can show himself to be a valuable middle-sixer, it could have some sway over how general manager Brad Treliving approaches the deadline. Maybe he doesn’t need to make as big a swing on a forward if Domi can prove he’s coming to life. For what it’s worth, Domi now has seven points — all assists, of course — in his past dozen games. If he can start to mix in a goal or two here and there, the complexion of the club changes.
As for Robertson, his two goals were both one-timers from the lip of the crease. The first one tied the game 1-1 7:09 into the second period after the Hawks had opened the scoring with just 11 seconds remaining in the opening stanza. It was a power-play goal that came about thanks to some marvellous work from Bobby McMann, who showed some of his unique abilities by holding off multiple Chicago checkers along the boards before shovelling the puck to Domi with one hand on his stick. Domi then fired it across the ice to Robertson in the low slot. Then, with just 15 seconds remaining in the middle frame, Domi whizzed past Chicago defenceman Seth Jones into the corner of the rink and hit a streaking Robertson as he barrelled toward the net.
“[Domi] is a really good passer, so you’ve just got to be ready to shoot,” Robertson told reporters in Chicago after the contest.
At times, Robertson has seemed like a player who is destined for a change of scenery, possibly heading out the door as part of a deadline move to acquire a more experienced, dependable skater. Perhaps nothing he does in the next few games can alter how his current employer values his abilities, but it never hurts to show your best side at a time when trade winds are blowing.
It wasn’t all good for the Domi trio, as the Hawks stormed right back to score eight seconds after Robertson’s second tally and make it a one-goal game again with just seven ticks to go in the second period. (And, of course, no coach loves seeing his team give up not one but two goals extremely late in periods as Toronto did in this contest). All told, however, it was a great night for the line, as Domi, Robertson and McMann had an expected goals for percentage mark of 90.6 through nearly 10 minutes of five-on-five play.
“They’ve had some good stretches earlier in the season too, so it’s nice to see them back together and playing well,” Leafs goalie Joseph Woll said of the line. “It’s a nice combination of players; [McMann] is a good power forward, [Robertson] can rip the puck and [Domi] always seems to find the open guy, so it’s a good line.”
Throw in an empty-netter from Pontus Holmberg to clinch the win over Chicago, and the secondary scoring has really come through for Toronto in this first weekend of action after the 4 Nations. Holmberg — who’s played up and down the lineup — had two tallies versus Carolina on Saturday, giving him three goals in a two-game stretch.
Even better for the Leafs, they also got some rare scoring from the back end in the win over Chicago. Toronto entered the night with just 13 goals from blue-liners on the year, the lowest total of any squad in the league. The Leafs still rank 32nd in that category, but it was encouraging nonetheless to see Jake McCabe put the Leafs up 2-1 with a second-period tally before his partner, Chris Tanev, found the net in the third to make it 4-2 Toronto.
The Leafs — who jumped into the top spot in the Atlantic Division with the with — remain on the road for three more games and will play five contests between now and the trade deadline. There’s little doubt — in some form or another —the club will look different before it’s all said and done. Still, good on some players who’ve had their struggles this season for putting their best foot forward right now.
