With Auston Matthews looking stronger at one end and another big game from a goaltender, the Leafs won for the ninth time in 11 starts to take back first place with a 4-1 decision over Chicago.
Our takeaways:
STOLIE THE GOALIE
Can Craig Berube make a bad call in net these days?
He had to choose between Joseph Woll’s five-game winning streak and Anthony Stolarz, winner of five straight after a loss, with a .921 save percentage in those situations.
With Woll perhaps having more jet lag from Saturday’s win in Tampa Bay, the coach resumed a straight rotation with Stolarz and got 27 saves from the veteran, many of them tricky.
“They are (feeding off each other),” Berube said of his keepers. “They have a great relationship, they’re tight, and that goes a long way for the whole team.”
Some goalies are in a don’t-talk-to-me zone during a game, including timeouts, but the two Leafs exchanged a few laughs after a stretch pad stop and a hot glove on the same sequence, as Stolarz bailed out a tired group who were caught out during a strong Chicago’s forecheck.
“It’s nice in practice when we’re competing and I think (goalie coach) Curtis Sanford deserves a lot of credit, too,” Stolarz said, “to work on a lot of little things I’ve incorporated in my game since I got here.
“Woller’s won five in a row so I think we’ll keep pushing each other and giving the team lots of confidence to go out and play their game. And if they make a mistake, the guys in the cage will cover it.”
MORE ACTION FOR AUSTON
If he just dipped his toe in the water with two assists Saturday after a month-long layoff, Matthews did a cannonball in the deep end on Monday.
Three shots on goal, three hits and the opening goal capped just under 20 minutes of his ice time, including 2:16 short-handed as Toronto killed four penalties, involving a 5-on-3.
“I’m continuing to get my legs back, get my lungs back in shape,” Matthews said.
He rarely takes penalties, but has now been assesed minors in consective games, including the rare roughing call Monday. Stolarz has noticed him be more rambunctious as he ramps up his return.
“I’m sure he just wants to get back in the swing of things. He’s missed nine games and that physicality is probably the big thing for him. I don’t mind it, the way our PK is clicking right now and when our top guys are clicking and doing everything else. It forces everyone else to follow in our captain’s footsteps.”
MINT CONDITION
Matthews, John Tavares and Matthew Knies are expected to score for Toronto, but the biggest goal last night was Fraser Minten’s, just 21 seconds after Lukas Reichel had made it a 2-1 game.
And Berube liked it was part of a designed play the Leafs had cooked up beforehand in the intermission, that Conor Timmins would aim off the net for a bank shot that the rookie Minten and linemates Steven Lorentz and Nick Robertson could pounce on.
“Smart play,” Berube said. “With their goalie (Arvid Soderblom), he likes to really come out and challenge. Timmer didn’t have a shooting lane and it was a huge goal by that line.
“(Minten) talks like a veteran on the bench. He’s not a guy you need to teach a whole lot to, he just needs the reps. He understands the game and the systems.”
Minten now has two goals and four points in five games and is making a case to extend his call-up.
“Nice to score, but I want to stick with the same (two-way) process whether they’re going in or not.”
STAGE FRIGHT
If observers thought it unusual that Matthews would start the game with third liners Lorentz and Robertson, the entire Leaf team agreed.
Matthews was announced as starting centre with the usual fanfare, but was sitting on the bench at the time looking quite surprised, before he eventually went to the centre ice dot where Minten had been.
“Something with the computer,” a bemused Berube explained later. “Minten came out and I heard Auston’s name. I was like ‘what?’ I had Minten down.”
Worried about a penalty for an improper lineup, such as happened in a recent game with Nashville, Berube called referee Steve Kozari to the bench to assure him he’d registered Minten. To be safe, It was agreed Toronto would put Matthews out.
“These computers screw everything up,” Berube joked. “You used to write (starting lineups) out on a piece of paper.”
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