TORONTO | Martin St-Louis hammered the same small set in a 62-second scrum after Saturday’s 7-1 loss to the Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena.
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Visibly irritated, St-Louis repeated four times in just over a minute: “We weren’t there. »
Even if the speech was short and brisk, the head coach described this encounter very realistically. Only one team touched the puck and they wore a blue jersey with a maple leaf logo.
The Maple Leafs ruled the game from the first few minutes. After a break, they led 2-0. But the shots made that dominance even clearer at 18-1. In terms of shots attempted, it was a 33-6 swing.
“We didn’t have a good start and it wasn’t a good night for us,” said defender Chris Wideman.
“Losing like that is frustrating,” added defender Mike Matheson. It’s hard to accept. »
The cannons thunder
There was an obvious imbalance between the two teams. When it comes to talent, the Leafs are among the elite in the NHL. Not the CH. And even less the CH with tons of injuries.
In the morning, Mark Giordano spoke about the importance of the last four games of the season. Despite a secure second-place finish in the Atlantic Division and another first-round duel against the Lightning, the Maple Leafs looked to use the end of the season to gain momentum and cohesion.
They did it against the Habs. The big names of the Maple Leafs also had a lot of fun on the ice. Auston Matthews (1 goal, 3 assists), Mitchell Marner (2 goals, 1 assist), John Tavares (2 goals), Ryan O’Reilly (3 assists) and William Nylander (1 goal) eclipsed the scorers’ list. They scored four of their seven power play goals.
With breaks for defenders Morgan Rielly and TJ Brodie, Erik Gustafsson used his former team’s through to collect three assists. For a defender who was considered relegated not too long ago, Gustafsson now has 42 points (7 goals, 35 assists) in 70 games. Kyle Dubas acquired him from the Washington Capitals on February 28.
Montembault abandoned
For the third time this season, Samuel Montembeault gave up seven goals. If that number doesn’t bode well for his personal stats, it wasn’t Montembeault’s fault.
“We spoke to him in the dressing room after the first half,” Matheson said. We thought we had to do more for him. Without Monty we could have lost 6-0 after 20 minutes. It is not his fault. Still, he played well. »
In the Leafs camp, Ilya Samsonov signed one of the easiest wins of his career. According to naturalstattrick, the Leafs had 17 quality five-a-side chances compared to just one for the visitors.
At the end of the game, Samsonov gave way to Jett Alexander. The University of Toronto goalkeeper, who had signed a one-day amateur contract, took over the last 70 seconds of the game. He didn’t get a single shot.
what we notice
A university goalkeeper as an assistant
The Maple Leafs don’t have much money under the salary cap. With Matt Murray injured and his desire to offer a contract to Matthew Knies, a finalist for the Hobey-Baker Trophy, Kyle Dubas has employed a rather rare strategy. Before the game, young Leafs-GM goaltender Jett Alexander signed an amateur contract. 23-year-old Alexander played for the University of Toronto this season. With a score of 7 to 1, he replaced Samsonov late in the third period. With this mathematical juggling, the Maple Leafs have enough money under the salary cap to recall goaltender Joseph Woll on their next trip to Florida. Wayne Simmonds will also return to the Toronto Marlies.
three more points
Mitchell Marner is looking to hit the symbolic 100 point plateau for the first time in his career. The dynamic right winger continued to expand his record with three points (2 goals, 1 assist) against the Habs. He now has 98 points (30 goals, 68 assists) in 78 games. With three more games on the Maple Leafs schedule, Marner has a good chance of reaching his goal.
A quick fight
There’s a good old belief that a fight can wake up a team. Michael Pezzetta put that theory to the test with a 2-0 lead in the first period. Immediately after a face-off, he invited Wayne Simmonds over for a waltz. The Leafs winger easily won his fight by releasing three violent lefts. There was no awakening in the Hab camp. Now, at the end of his career at 34 and in the final year of a two-year contract ($0.9 million average), Simmonds has only played 18 games this season.
The Plus: Nick Suzuki
There were few candidates. Suzuki had an honest game down the middle of the front row with Harvey-Pinard and Armia. He provided an assist in his team’s only goal, that of Johnathan Kovacevic. He also won 62% of his faceoffs.
Least: Justin Barron
There were several candidates for this election! Denis Gurianov, Mike Hoffman, Jake Evans among the forwards. But on the blue line, Justin Barron had a tough game. He looked like a rookie defenseman against the Maple Leafs’ big offensive machine.