Winnipeg Jets' Bryan Little hits the post behind Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen during the third period of a game in Winnipeg, on Oct. 24, 2018.Trevor Hagan/The Canadian Press
No matter what happens in the return match on Saturday night in their own rink, the Toronto Maple Leafs can point to their win over the Winnipeg Jets in the first game of their mini-series as the statement game they needed badly.
This may be a risky conclusion given that the Jets, a powerhouse team, could well spank the Leafs on Saturday even worse than they themselves were spanked in Toronto’s 4-2 win on Wednesday night. It was not only how the Leafs did it, but also where and when that made this a convincing argument Toronto has the stuff of an NHL contender.
The Leafs thoroughly outplayed the Jets for two periods and the important part of the third in one of the most hostile environments for visiting teams in the league. Well, yes, Bell MTS Place is comparably less hostile for the Leafs because of the historically large number of Leaf fans in Winnipeg, plus those from Toronto who made the trip. But the Jets had only lost to seven teams in regulation in the previous 47 games there before Wednesday night. In their previous 15 home games, the Jets had a 14-0-1 record.
They also pulled off the big win as a direct response to the unhappy fans and media who were questioning the Leafs’ moxie in the wake of two losses. One was to one of the NHL’s big boys, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the other was to the St. Louis Blues, maybe no longer one of the big boys, but still dangerous.
In both losses, the Leafs were a mess at both ends of the ice. The big star, Auston Matthews, went from hot to cold along with his fellow luminaries. On the back end, the defence was under siege and the Leafs could not get the puck out of their own end.
And then it all went away in the Leafs’ second-best complete game of the season, the first being their 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Oct. 13. The solution was actually quite simple.
One could describe it in today’s fancy-stats bafflegab about zone breakouts, entries and starts, but it really boils down to what’s been said for decades in beer leagues and the NHL – the forwards have to come back. That is where the Leafs’ success started, with the forwards supporting the defence in getting the puck moving rather than taking off for the offensive zone and, in too many cases, looking for that stretch pass to advance the puck.
“Our structure was good,” Leaf centre Nazem Kadri said. “We were able to be in the right places at the right times, especially breaking through the neutral zone. On the defensive side of things, we were able to stay above guys and not give them too much momentum to generate speed entering the offensive zone. I think that was really a difference tonight.
“Guys were in the right places at the right time and able to sort out who their guy is in the defensive zone.”
Individually, the game was most important for Kadri and goaltender Frederik Andersen. Both were outstanding at a time when they were hearing questions about their play.
Kadri did score his first goal of the season after nine games, but, more importantly, he showed how the Leafs’ depth at centre can work. Matthews, for example, had another quiet night in stretching his goal drought to four games after starting the season with 10 in six games. But with Kadri stepping in with a goal on six shots, Matthews gets to find his touch without a lot of noise.
On top of that, Kadri was fulfilling his role as the shutdown centre. The hope for the Leafs is Wednesday’s goal is an indication Kadri is back on track for a third consecutive 30-goal season. Shutdown players who can score are gold.
“He’s an important goal-scorer for us, we need him to feel good,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “We need him to score and he knows that. It’s good he stuck with it and kept working and now they will start going in for him.”
John Tavares punctuated the Leafs’ depth at centre when he scored in the third period to restore their two-goal lead after the Jets scored twice in the first seven minutes to make it a game. That sort of thing can be dispiriting to a team that spent the night shutting Matthews down.
Finally, Andersen looks as if he has shaken off his October blues. The month has been nothing but trouble for him since he joined the Leafs in 2016 and there were signs of trouble this year, as well.
But he put in another strong game and was outstanding when the team needed him, in the third period. Andersen made 20 saves in that frame and now sits with a .916 save percentage.
The Leafs also get a break from the schedule. The two days until the next meeting with the Jets allowed for a complete day off on Thursday and the Jets have to stop in Detroit to play the Red Wings on Friday before Saturday’s series finale.