TORONTO — Revenge is a dish best served by Matias Maccelli.
Exiled out of Utah before the hockey club could find a name and invent a mascot, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ newest playmaking winger was dealt a double dose of incentive heading into Wednesday’s money-on-the-board game against the team that didn’t want him.
Not only would Maccelli be facing all those friends and teammates with whom he’d played his first four pro seasons, he had also been challenged by his new head coach.
On Monday, Craig Berube took a page from Maccelli’s former coach’s book and scratched the winger. Not a great look for a contract-year guy who once hung 57 points and had been given top-line opportunity early in his Toronto tenure.
Some benchings, Berube explains, are the result of a crowded roster or a coach wanting to inject a certain skill-set against a specific opponent.
Not Maccelli’s.
He sat in the press box for Monday’s win over Pittsburgh because Berube believed the player had been underdelivering.
Well, Maccelli not only came through with the primary assist on Auston Matthews’ go-ahead marker but pounded home the winner Wednesday in a 5-3 comeback victory over the Utah Mammoth.
“Great team win. Personally, it felt even better doing it against my old team, and getting that game-winner, too, feels really good,” Maccelli said. “It’s a fun game. I mean, I played with most of the guys in four years, so I know them pretty well. So, it’s exciting. It’s fun. I enjoyed it. I felt good out there today.”
Heck, they all did, now winners of five of their past six.
That includes Berube, who has been forced to play a couple of his trump cards before the season is a month old.
As frustrated as he’s been on this job, the coach tore into his players in the second intermission Monday, helping trigger a four-goal response. And he resorted to scratching one of the best top-six candidates GM Brad Treliving could find just 13 games in.
“I’d always say it’s more positive than anything, for the most part,” Berube says of the scratch tactic. “In Maccelli’s case, I thought he could give us more — and he did tonight.
“He was competitive all over the ice. Just watching how he competed on pucks, I thought he was really good…. He’s got talent and playmaking ability. That’s why we got him.”
Maccelli spotted Matthews in a soft spot before plattering a puck just begging to get one-timed. The captain pointed credit directly to the passer after lighting the lamp.
“I saw him wide open in the middle there with the stick up ready to shoot. So, I mean, if he’s open, I better give him the puck,” Maccelli reasoned. “One of the best in the league. So just give him the puck, and he’ll score.”
Matthews says the Leafs we’re razzing Maccelli before the puck dropped on his revenge game.
“So, you know he was gonna be ready for this one. And he was all over it this night. Slippery. Made a great pass on my goal, and seemed like puck was following him all around,” Matthews said.
“Big goal for us there. And I’m sure that one feels good, especially against his old team.”
John Tavares noted Maccelli’s vision on neutral-zone breaks and effort to earn pucks back defensively.
“Not always an easy thing when you’re traded,” Tavares said. “Nice for him to have a big night and get the winner. So, really happy for him.”
Maccelli is now on pace for a 44-point campaign.
The Maple Leafs are depending on that type of impact from secondary scorers. (Heck, they’ll upgrade his trade cost from a third-round pick to a second-rounder if he hits 51 points.)
And the player himself, who’s on his second-chance team and heading toward free agency, could serve himself well with a few more nights like Wednesday.
The scratch was a wakeup. Maccelli answered the alarm.
“It adds motivation, obviously,” said Maccelli, after accepting Toronto’s player-of-the-game belt from Matthews. “So, it was a good bounce-back.”
Fox’s Fast Five
• The Maple Leafs had custom TAVARE500 T-shirts and caps pressed up for the game, which was preceded by a ceremony to honour the former captain’s 500th goal — scored in the most unfortunate of circumstances last week. Mats Sundin is the only other Maple Leaf in the 49-member 500 Goals Club.
“Even though it came in the fashion that it did,” Tavares says, “you appreciate each and every goal that went in and how difficult it can be.”
That number is doubly significant for Tavares, as he recently became just the fourth player in NHL history to put up 500 points for two franchises (some shlubs named Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Ron Francis are the others).
Tavares is well known for how seriously he attacks his craft, but Scott Laughton highlights another trait of his teammate.
“One of the funniest guys I’ve ever met. Seriously, one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met and one of the greatest pros I’ve seen,” Laughton says.
Funny? Tavares? The guy who once felt it necessary to point out he was not, in fact, a robot is a hoot behind closed doors?
“I don’t know how to describe it, but he makes me laugh a lot,” Laughton says. “It’s a little bit dry.”
Tavares comes off as low-nonsense and monotone when media is present.
“Away from the cameras, he’s just like any of us,” Nick Robertson counters, smiling. “He’s joking around. He’s talking. He’s not as reserved as you guys may see.”
The Leafs donated $10,000 to Tavares’ foundation, and his teammates matched.
Matthews conducted his post-game interview after altering his commemorative shirt to read TAVARE501 with a couple pieces of white tape.
“A huge honour to play with a guy like that, who’s accomplished so much in his career and as good of a person as he is,” Matthews says. “It’s always fun to celebrate people like that. A really nice moment before the game.”
• Matthews’ first three-game goal streak coincides with the Leafs’ first three-game win streak. But it sure doesn’t feel like a coincidence.
“More energy and life to him,” Berube says. “Feels like he’s got a lot more jump in his game.”
• Anthony Stolarz has never played more than 34 games in an NHL season.
It’s only Nov. 5 and he already has 11 starts under his belt. Only Dustin Wolf, Juuse Saros, and Scott Wedgewood have more.
Stolarz gave up a softy in Period 2 when Mikhail Sergachev beat his five-hole from the blue line but locked up the win — and even attempted a goalie goal.
“We were giving it to him,” Matthews smiles. “Just didn’t get in the air. I mean, up two — why not?”
With current backup Cayden Primeau thus far restricted to back-to-backs and operating with a .838 save percentage, it begs the question: When will Joseph Woll — who has been practising with the Leafs since Oct. 27 — play a game?
“It’s getting close,” Berube replies. “I don’t want to give you a timeline and then it’s changed, but I can just say this: He’s in a real good spot.”
Woll could ease into action in an AHL conditioning stint with the Marlies.
• Bad news, good news: The Maple Leafs have surrendered the first goal in seven straight games. They are also the first team to already have six comeback wins.
“Extremely resilient,” Matthew Knies says. “We’re never out of it. The last game showed that, especially with one period left. I feel like we’re never on our heels. We’re always pushing, and it takes a few lucky bounces too.”
• Laughton made his season debut Wednesday, but the longtime Flyer had been hopeful to play Saturday in Philadelphia. So much so, Laughton brought wife Chole and baby son Reed down to Pennsylvania.
The Laughtons made the most of trip, dressing their one-year-old up as Elvis so Reed could go trick-or-treating in their old neighborhood.
“That was nice,” Laughton says. “He was ripping it up.”
A big Elvis guy, Laughton tells us he plays The King’s music for Reed regularly around the house. Then he breaks out into song. No hip shake, though. Don’t wanna go offside.
