Auston Matthews is paid to score goals.
Steven Lorentz is not.
Well, Lorentz won’t be paid to score when he signs with the Maple Leafs after attending camp on a professional tryout.
Both the Leafs’ captain and a player who is in line for an opening-night job after earning it in camp scored in Toronto’s preseason finale on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.
In a 3-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings, Matthews served up a reminder of what he does so well, blasting a shot past Wings goalie Ville Husso on a one-timer off a pass from Mitch Marner. That came during a Toronto power play in the second period.
For good measure, Matthews deked through a couple of Wings to set up John Tavares for a power-play goal in the third.
Detroit couldn’t get another shot past Woll and the Leafs concluded their six-game preseason with a record of 4-1-1.
As for Lorentz, it was another good performance on the fourth line. His goal in the first period was set up by Ryan Reaves, who did the work on the forecheck to take possession of the puck.
The 6-foot-4, 216-pound Lorentz will bring a physical presence to the fourth line. If there is some touch there as well, all the better. Lorentz also will bring worth as a penalty killer, as he did on Saturday. When the Leafs had to kill off a two-man Wings advantage in the first period, Lorentz was the Toronto forward who was given the responsibility.
A fourth line of David Kampf between Lorentz and Reaves has been working together for much of camp.
For all intents and purposes, the Leafs’ roster for the regular-season opener in Montreal on Wednesday against the Canadiens is set.
Coach Craig Berube, for the most part, revealed it against Detroit.
Joseph Woll, backed up by Anthony Stolarz, went the distance in net and finished with 18 saves.
Woll’s best stop came in the first period when he stretched across the crease to deny Michael Brandsegg-Nygard.
On the blue line, Jake McCabe remains day to day with an upper body injury, and his spot in the lineup on Saturday was taken by Philippe Myers.
At forward, Nick Robertson (upper body) skated on Saturday morning but did not play. Calle Jarnkrok (lower body) was not on the ice with his teammates and still is day to day.
The lines that Berube used against the Wings included Matthews between Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner; Tavares at centre with Max Domi and William Nylander; Pontus Holmberg between Max Pacorietty and Bobby McMann.
On defence, the pairs were Morgan Rielly and Chris Tanev; Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Myers; and Simon Benoit and Conor Timmins.
Timothy Liljegren was not in the lineup, another indication of his lower place on the depth chart.
As long as Robertson and McCabe are ready for Wednesday, they will be play. That would bring Myers out of the lineup. What Berube does at forward to get Robertson, who lit up opposing goalies in the preseason to secure a job, will be interesting. If he is set on his fourth line, does that mean one of Pacorietty or McMann is out? It’s possible.
An errant Pacioretty pass led to the first Wings goal, by Christian Fischer. Andrew Copp scored on a power play for Detroit.
The deadline for general manager Brad Treliving and assistant GM Brandon Pridham to make it all fit and get the Leafs into a cap compliant spot is fast approaching.
Among the dominoes that are expected to fall before the roster is due to the NHL on Monday at 5 p.m., are contracts for Pacioretty and Lorentz.
We’ll be curious to see if Liljegren is a casualty. The player himself sounded on Friday like he would not be surprised if he is traded.
Defenceman Jani Hakanpaa (knee) and forward Connor Dewar (shoulder) could be placed on longterm injured reserve to start the season, but neither is far off from returning.
The lineup will come into sharper focus on Monday at practice when the Leafs reconvene at the Ford Performance Centre after a scheduled day off on Sunday.
Timmins, meanwhile, has put himself into the top six with a fine camp.
“He’s played well, he has been highly competitive,” Berube said. “First and foremost, (he is) playing defence. You have to defend and be competitive and do all the things there that we need. I like his puck movement. Moves the puck well, sees the ice well, moves it well.”
Timmins, whose NHL career has been stalled by injuries at various times, has an idea that he is in a good spot.
“I feel comfortable, I’m moving my feet well,” Timmins said. “I’ve felt confident in the games and like where my game is at.
“I’ve just been worried about playing my own game. I think it fits well into the system. Just playing hard, playing fast, moving pucks up, and it’s been a good fit so far.”
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