The Maple Leafs weren’t at their best at the start of the night and could have finished a little stronger, before riding a second-period goal surge to a 3-2 win over the Utah Hockey Club on Sunday night.
Our takeaways:
BROTHERS IN ARMS
The last time Leaf brothers figured in the same goal was March 21, 1987, when Peter and Miroslav Ihnacak assisted on a Gary Leeman marker against Montreal.
That still holds, though Alex and William Nylander came close on a couple of power plays on their big night, with father Michael in the stands at Scotiabank Arena. It was their first time on the same team since the 2016 world juniors for Sweden, an abbreviated appearance when William was concussed, but the big question was whether Alex could assimilate with the Leafs.
Playing on a Marlies call-up line centred by Fraser Minten with Nikita Grebenkin, the younger Alex showed he’s hardly a novice, with his 130 games of NHL experience.
“The entire day was special,” William said. “Just seeing (Alex) out there in the first period was kind of crazy. Then we settled in.”
The spate of power plays, including a 5-on-3, led to unexpected shifts together.
“That was a lot of fun. If he stays up, it would be fun to get some more together,” William added. “But I didn’t say anything, that’s Chief’s call (head coach Craig Berube). I told him ‘nice try’ on the one he hit the post and the other where he stepped in from the wall in the first period.”
Alex had four shot attempts, getting two others on net and winning his only draw. William was William, with an unassisted winning goal, and assisting on Mitch Marner’s second. His bid for an empty-netter crossed the goal line just after time expired.
“It was an amazing feeling, to be on this team with my brother here,” Alex said. “It’s something I’ll remember forever. It was fun, knowing how he plays and trying to read off of him.
“For (Michael) it was a big moment. He just told me: ‘Play your game and be heavy on the forecheck’. Same as usual. I’ve played at this level before and that helped. When I work hard, win battles, the rest of my game comes. I have to use my shot as much as possible, create plays and play well defensively.”
SUNDAY NIGHT BLAH
These were the kinds of games that used to drive Berube’s predecessor Sheldon Keefe nuts, unable to motivate the Leafs for non prime-time home games against beatable opponents, in this case one that had played and travelled the night before.
Either someone rattled some cages after the first period or there was a collective reckoning.
“A bit of both,’ said Marner, who had two of the three goals in the 11-minute outburst that followed. “We knew that wasn’t our best start, not a lot going on in the offensive zone. We played a lot more straightforward north. As soon as we did that, we won a lot of battles, made quick plays off of that and got rewarded for it.”
Berube sensed he would need a big night from his muckers and started the night with Steven Lorentz’s line with Connor Dewar and Alex Steeves in suspended Ryan Reaves’s role.
“I have trust in their work, all three are responsible players,” Berube said. “They started their (third) Nick Bjugstad line (with Lawson Crouse and Matias Maccelli), a big line and I thought it would be a good matchup for them. But these guys work hard, compete hard and are in the right spots.
“We were flat in the first. You could tell in the faceoffs, guys weren’t jumping and getting the puck, little things like that. We were re-grouping too much. We just talked about it between periods and they did a really good job of adjusting.
‘We drew some penalties and the power play was excellent. (Marner’s first goal) gave us momentum.
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MITCH MATCH
Since Auston Matthews went out of the lineup on Nov. 3, the start of a decimation of forwards, Marner has responded with 14 points as Toronto improved to 7-1. He took a stretch pass from John Tavares to open the scoring and was rewarded for hard work with a fluke bounce on his second.
“I think it’s business as usual,” Berube said of Marner’s progression this contract year. “Early on, he was playing good hockey for us (seven points his first six games) in all situations, not just scoring. I find him shooting a little more, which is great and I think he could shoot even more.”
Marner dedicated himself to that a couple of years ago after Keefe urged him to diversify. From a career-high 35 goals, he has gone to 30 and 26 the past two seasons, but is at eight and counting now. He, Nylander and Tavares all have three game-winning goals as well.
NICK SLOWS TO A TRICKLE
Not a full frustrating night for Nick Robertson as he skated well and battled for pucks, but his shooting eye was just off again as he reached 11 games since his last goal, still stuck on one for the season.
This should be his time to shine with so many forwards out, with Nylander his regular winger and some power play time.
“I thought Nicky had a good game, was in the right spots defensively,” Berube said in trying to find the positives for the 23-year-old. “He had some looks and they didn’t go in. He just has to stick with it. It’s going to go in eventually. We all feel for him.
“It’s not easy, though I wouldn’t know anything about that (as a bottom six enforcer in his playing days), but he wants to score goals. That’s his job, but he did some really good things tonight.”
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