Calgary Flames centre Elias Lindholm celebrates his goal with centre Sean Monahan as Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly looks on during the third period of a game in Toronto, on Oct. 29, 2018.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
If one game is any judge, life without Auston Matthews could prove to be a difficult journey for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In the first game without their injured star, the Leafs were listless and mostly aim-less, unable to weather a ferocious forechecking attack by the Calgary Flames, who skated to a 3-1 victory Monday night at ScotiaBank Arena.
The win snapped a three-game National Hockey League losing slide for the Flames while the setback was Toronto’s first in three games.
It was for the most part was a listless, tight-checking affair which the Flames dominated for large stretches with the Leafs constantly checking their rear-view mirrors to see where the next wave of attackers were about to arrive from.
Shots for the Leafs were hard to come by as the Flames held a 24-15 edge through two periods, and a 34-25 advantage overall.
There gaps were great, I mean [they were] right on top of our guys,” said Toronto centre Nazem Kadri, who scored the only Toronto goal. “Coming through the neutral zone it just seemed like it was a pain in the ass every time. They made it tough on us and certainly congested the neutral zone area and that was the difference.”
Only the solid goaltending of Toronto’s Frederik Andersen allowed the game to enter the third period with the game still deadlocked at 0-0.
There, the Flames persistence finally paid off with a powerplay marker by Sean Monahan at the six minute, 34 second mark, banging home a big rebound after Andersen had turned away a drive by Elias Lindholm.
Less than a minute later it was Lindholm who was set up perfectly on a cross-ice pass from Calgary sniper Johnny Gaudreau and his one-timer from the left circle eluded Andersen for a 2-0 Calgary lead.
The Leafs went on a late power play and were at least able to make it interesting for the capacity gathering of close to 19,000 when Kadri scored in his third consecutive game to cut the Calgary lead to one.
The Leafs were on the power play when Kadri banged one behind Calgary goaltender Mike Smith home after a gorgeous goalmouth feed from Mitch Marner.
Calgary ended the drama when Michael Frolik scored into an empty net with 5.8 seconds left.
“I just thought they were prepared, I thought they skated, I thought they worked,” said Toronto coach Mike Babcock. “We turned the puck over. The game’s frustrating when the other team works hard.”
The Leafs were playing without Matthews, their top center, after he injured his left shoulder in a collision with Winnipeg’s Jacob Trouba during the second period of Saturday’s game, a 3-2 Toronto win.
While he will not require surgery, Matthews has been placed on injured reserve and will be lost for at least four weeks say the Leafs. That means he will miss at least the next 10 games.
The centre missed a total of 20 games last season with an assortment of aches and pains, including one issue to his right shoulder in February that shelved him for 10 contests. The only positive to all that, the Leafs posted a decent 11-7-2 record during his absences.
“It’s frustrating,” Matthews told reporters after Toronto’s pre-game skate Monday morning, referring to his latest setback. “There’s not much you can do. It sucks, but it’s part of the game.”
It puts just a bit of a damper on what had been a red-hot start to the regular season. He became just the third player in NHL history when he recorded seven straight multi-point games to start the season although he had been held off the scoring sheet in his last four outings.
Matthews said that being on the sideline for so long is anything but relaxing.
“You just want to be out there so bad,” he said. “Watching the game is probably the worst part. [Not] being around your teammates, being a part of something I think that’s kind of the hardest thing.”
Babcock said maintaining your mental health is the most important thing any individual can do, including injured hockey players.
“We talked a little about it [Monday morning],” Babcock said. “Be around the group, do what you do, train real hard, be better when you come back than were.”
As a result of Matthews absence, Babcock was forced to shuffle his forward lines. He moved Kadri up from the third line to centre the top unit between Patrick Marleau and Marner.
There were no goals in an opening period dominated by the
Flames, who outshot a lethargic Toronto outfit 12-4 but could not beat Leaf goaltender Andersen.
His best save was when he rebuffed Sam Bennett point-blank just after the periods midway point.
The Leafs started the second with a bit more drive but Calgary continued with its heavy forechecking that soon had Toronto back on its heels again.
Gaudreau made a nifty end-to-end rush but failed to get a shot off as he skated by Anderson’s doorstep. After that, the Jikael Backlund trio managed to create some sustained havoc deep in the Toronto zone for the Flames but Andersen was able to final smother the puck.
The Leafs managed a surge in the final seconds and thought they had the game’s first goal when John Taveras jammed the puck across the line during a goalmouth scramble. But the goal was waved off as it came just after the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the frame.