TORONTO — The hand is slowly retreating from the panic button.
The bleeding has stopped.
Or, at the very least, the haters can take a couple nights off to recharge.
The Toronto Maple Leafs — a listless ship drifting south on the Atlantic leaderboard — not only won a hockey game. They won it in regulation, decisively and emphatically.
Starting strong and finishing the same way.
Yes, on March 17, the team decked in green arrived at the party pre-drunk off urgency and proceeded to chase their thirst with shots that hit their mark. Then ordered another and another. Same again.
A full six-pack of scoring in a 6-2 victory from a group that has struggled to do so lately, and the Maple Leafs ran the Calgary Flames out of Scotiabank Arena like snakes shooed off the Emerald Isle.
Auston Matthews, looking his most engaged Monday since the 4 Nations final, had criticized his room’s attention to detail. He had called for a glare in the mirror as frustration swelled equally behind the scenes and inside the rabid fan base.
“It’s on us to figure that out and to just be better. We gotta get it through our head that all these games, especially some of the teams we’re playing, are going to be playoff-like games,” the captain declared after Saturday’s blown-lead loss to the Senators, which came on the heels of a blown-lead loss to the Panthers.
Well, Matthews’ two-goal, three-point, five-shot, 76-per-cent-faceoff St. Patrick’s Day performance set the tone.
“That’s your leader, right?” coach Craig Berube said. “Led the way. Led the way with effort, competitiveness. Just work.”
Multi-goal nights for the defending Rocket Trophy champ have been as rare this season as perfect special-teams performances. And although Berube kept Matthews’ minutes under 17, he was integral to a 3-for-3 power play and 4-for-4 penalty kill.
“He’s probably the hardest-working guy I’ve ever played with my whole career, and I played with a lot of guys,” said Max Domi, a 10-year vet. “He’s driving the bus, for sure. It’s tough not to jump on board with a guy like that. As talented as he is, you see him tracking back and turning pucks over and stripping guys and taking guys one-on-three down low and coming out with the puck somehow.
“I’ve said it from Day 1: He’s my favourite player to watch play, to play with, and best player in the world.”
For good and bad, hyperbole flourishes in the saga that is this era of the Maple Leafs.
But as ticked off as supporters have been with Toronto’s uninspired string of losses and wee-bit-to-too-short showings in recent measuring-stick games, the players themselves have been getting fed up as well.
Berube has held multiple team meetings, demanding urgency from puck drop, not only when the score starts getting away on them.
“We gotta get that battle level and that urgency level up. Guys understand that. They’re not very happy right now,” Berube said Monday morning. “They’re upset about things, and they’re pissed off. So, that’s a good thing.”
That anger was channeled properly, as the Maple Leafs smothered the Flames, dominating the high danger chances 10-1 by the 20-minute mark and chasing Calder candidate Dustin Wolf after 40.
The Maple Leafs submitted a much-longed-for 60-minute effort that culminated in the greatest margin of victory in two months and was celebrated by multiple rounds of The Wave by an atypically joyful Bay Street throng.
“We came out with the right intensity, the right attitude and focus, and I thought it translated throughout the whole game,” Matthews said. “Just the life and energy that I think all 20-plus guys brought to the rink today was great.”
“We knew we needed this one. Been going through the grinder a little bit right now,” added Domi, who had a two-point, plus-3 night. “We literally had everyone going. It wasn’t one passenger tonight. And when we’re like that, we’re a tough team to beat, man.”
The question now: Can a resounding snuff of the slump double as the spark of a streak?
We’ll get a much better handle on the answer to that Wednesday, when the mighty Colorado Avalanche fly to town.
“We know this week’s gonna be a challenging one,” Matthews said.
“It’s not easy to win, especially when you’re going through adversity. So, we’ll enjoy this, and we’ll get ready for a really good team coming in here on Wednesday and just try to keep this rollin’.”
Fox’s Fast Five
• A redemptive night for Nick Robertson.
The winger committed two careless minor penalties — an unsportsmanlike for ripping a slapshot after the whistle (Robertson says he didn’t hear it) and a high-sticking of Joel Hanley behind the play. Guys on the bubble can’t afford those mistakes.
But an apparent Flames power-play strike with Robertson in the box was wiped off the board due to a successful offside challenge 32 seconds after Calgary buzzed around the zone.
“Those guys (video coaches Jordan Bean and Sam Kim) are pretty dialed in there. You hear it before the goal or the whistle. Like, they’re keeping track of everything,” Matthews said. “You hear it on the bench pretty early there in the entry, that they thought it was offside. Good on them. They’re some of the best I’ve seen.”
Robertson drove the slot soon after and made good on his 12th goal of the season on a silky feed from Max Domi.
“Obviously, I don’t want to be in the box twice, and it could cost the team a goal,” Robertson said. “It feels good to contribute like that. Kind of get back to getting momentum.”
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• Berube’s split of Matthews and Marner to start Saturday’s loss versus Ottawa was short-lived. Monday, the coach reverted to a more typical top nine:
Knies – Matthews – Marner
Holmberg – Tavares – Nylander
McMann – Domi – Robertson
“The Swedish connection there on my wings is nice,” Tavares smiled. “Sometimes I’ve got to figure out what they’re talking about. But it’s great. Obviously, my familiarity with Willy, and I think Homer’s been playing well.”
• Wait a sec.
Wasn’t Scott Laughton brought in to be a third-line centre, not replace David Kämpf (scratched) in the middle of a new-look “identity” fourth line between Steven Lorentz and Calle Järnkrok?
“That’s probably a good line for him — that’s playing that hard hockey, that heavy hockey, checking hockey, physical,” Berube said of his newest forward. “So, we’ll see where it goes.”
Poor Laughton had a late Flames goal click in off his skate, didn’t register a shot and finished minus-1. He’s still finding his way here.
• The Maple Leafs have 15 games remaining on their schedule — and eight of them will be part of back-to-backs.
• Splendid sweater matchup, those red Flames roadies contrasting with Toronto’s Kelly-green St. Pat’s throwbacks.
Morgan Rielly says his dad is a big fan of the annual throwbacks: “As a person of Irish descent, it’s fun.”
Music to the eyes.
