Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews shoots the puck against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, on April. 4.John E. Sokolowski
Zach Aston-Reese scored twice, Alexander Kerfoot had another and Auston Matthews added an empty-netter as the Maple Leafs held on to beat the plucky Blue Jackets 4-2 at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
Columbus entered the night fighting a battle to the bottom and the best shot at this summer’s first over-all draft pick with Chicago and Anaheim but did not make it easy on Toronto.
Goalie Jet Greaves of Cambridge, Ont., was up to the task in his NHL debut. Greaves, who only turned 22 last week, kept his undermanned teammates in the game as they were outworked and outshot. He finished with 46 saves as the Leafs established a new season high with 50.
“You never really know what your first game is going to be like, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was two years old,” Greaves said. “When I look back it’s a dream come true.”
Here is something worth putting in his scrapbook: he turned away a half-dozen shots each by Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, seven by John Tavares and nine by Morgan Rielly.
“We knew next to nothing about him,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said of Greaves. “We wanted to make it uncomfortable for him like we try to do for all goalies and I think we did a good job of that.”
The Maple Leafs started Joseph Woll in net due to the head injury incurred by back-up goalie Matt Murray in Sunday’s loss to Detroit.
Woll was called up on an emergency basis from the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, where he has gone 16-4-1 with a .927 save percentage. He came in 3-1 with the Maple Leafs in spot duty, same as last year, and made 24 saves to pick up the win.
Ilya Samsonov was given the night off ahead of a Thursday night match up with the Bruins at Boston’s TD Garden. Murray, who has battled injuries all year, was hurt when he accidentally had his legs taken out from beneath him and landed on the back of his head.
“It is going to be a day-to-day thing sorting out where he is at,” Keefe said. “It is difficult to put any real timeline on it.”
Ryan O’Reilly, who suffered a finger injury and underwent surgery last month, skated with the club in the morning but was held out on Tuesday night. He last played on March 4.
Toronto players wore helmet decals and multi-coloured tape on their sticks as part of a Pride night celebration. They did not wear Pride jerseys during warmups; they have had a Pride night every year since 2017 and have never worn one. The only player without a decal was Samsonov, the Russian goalie.
Earlier in the day players wore Pride T-shirts and decorated their dressing stalls for the occasion. Drag singers Lucy Flawless and the Virgo Queen entertained fans inside the arena and inclusion messages were featured on the jumbo screen above centre ice.
“It is an opportunity for our organization to welcome and support the LGBTQ community,” Keefe said. “We want to show our arena and our dressing room are welcoming and inclusive places and that we respect all individuals.”
Morgan Rielly, who previously attended a Gay Pride Parade with club president Brendan Shanahan and general manager Kyle Dubas, was glad to participate.
“It is a part of what I have believed in for a long time and it’s a great opportunity for our organization to make everybody feel welcome,” the defenceman said. “That is our goal tonight.”
Rielly shrugged off a question about players not wearing Pride jerseys.
“I believe that actions speak louder than words and especially louder than attire,” Rielly said.
In addition, Maple Leafs players were addressed recently by Meghan Duggan, the openly gay manager of player development for the New Jersey Devils. Portions of the former U.S. Olympian’s visit were played for fans before the game and during the intermissions.
At one point she told them, “It’s difficult to understand inclusion if you’ve never been excluded.”
The game was the third and last of the campaign between the Eastern Conference opponents. They split the previous two.
Columbus entered the evening 24-44-8 and last among eight teams in the NHL’s Metropolitan Division. Toronto came in 45-21-10 and second in the Atlantic.
The only race the Blue Jackets are in is the one to draft Connor Bedard, the Canadian world junior star who currently plays for the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League. Columbus is lousy at scoring goals (30th among 32 teams in the league) and worse at preventing them (31st).
Greaves accounted well for himself, making numerous saves from in close as Toronto built a 33-17 lead in shots over the first 40 minutes. Aston-Reese beat him five-and-a-half minutes into the first; Jack Roslovic tied it at 1-1 for Columbus with 7:38 remaining before the teams headed to the dressing rooms.
Kerfoot put Toronto up in the second with his 10th goal of the year, then Aston-Reese got his second of the night and 10th of the campaign, in the third. Eric Robinson scored unassisted with 7:57 left, to cut the margin to 3-2, before Matthews tacked on an unassisted empty-netter for his 38th goal of the year with 1:03 remaining.
Toronto dominated in shots against Detroit but fell flat. It peppered Greaves all night on Tuesday and this time came away with the win.
“It was a tricky game tonight,” Keefe said. “We had a lot of shots and had the puck a lot but had trouble breaking through. We had to keep our focus, and close games like this are going to help us in the playoffs.”