It looks like at the start of the season the Northern Division race will be between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens. Now, after the Maple Leafs’ 7-0-1 record in their last eight games, they are leading the Northern Division with 19 points. Canadiens are in second place with 18 points.
Last night, led by Wayne Simmonds, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and a good goalkeeper by Frederik Andersen, the Maple Leafs beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 (they had beaten the same Canucks two nights earlier by a 7 -3 score). On Monday night, the same two teams play again; and while I’m not saying that the Canucks are going to win, I’m certainly looking forward to them playing a stronger game.
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In this issue of Maple Leafs News & Rumors, I will share some comments based on what I saw during the game and the impact of the game on the players and the team going forward.
Item one: Wayne Simmonds scores twice and quits the game
Perhaps William Nylander was right when he got excited about Wayne Simmonds joining the second row with John Tavares and himself. Simmonds seems to have found a home with his hometown, Maple Leafs, and has rejuvenated his game. He scored twice in the game before being forced to leave the game in the third period due to a hand injury.
The two-goal game was Simmonds’ first since he played for the New Jersey Devils about a year ago. He also scored two goals on February 13 against the Detroit Red Wings. This was also Simmonds’ first multipoint show of the season wearing the blue and white of maple leaves.
Simmonds’ first goal in the game – a power-play goal before five minutes of play had passed – kicked off the Maple Leafs. He also scored at the start of the third period. They were their fourth and fifth goals in the 2020-21 season. Unfortunately, for fans of Simmonds and Maple Leafs, he had to leave the game when he came in front of an attempt at compensation, took a disc out of his hand and was unable to finish the game.
There is currently no update this morning on the status of his injury.
Item two: Auston Matthews is on the rise, scoring twice to become the NHL scoring leader
Auston Matthews made it easy to score twice in Saturday’s victory over the Canucks. His first came at the end of the first period to push the team’s lead to 2-0, and he scored a goal without help from a mistake by Braden Holtby in the third. Because Brock Boeser’s powerful game goal made the final score 5-1 for the Maple Leafs, he also pushed Matthews’s goal into the status of a game winner.
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Matthews’ two goals were ninth and tenth of the season, and he now takes the lead in the NHL in that department. Matthews has now scored an incredible 10 goals in his 11 games this season – almost one goal per game. The Canucks just don’t seem to be able to stop him, and he seems to be playing at a different speed than almost every other player on the opposing team.
He’s fine and seems to be getting better. Practically the only aspect of the game in which Matthews did not shine last night was in the round of confrontations: he lost 11 of 20 draws.
Matthews, who knows several goal sequences, scored in six consecutive games early in the 2018-19 season. He is the first Maple Leafs player to score goals in seven consecutive games since Wendel Clark and Dave Andreychuk achieved that feat in 1993-94.
Item three: Mitch Marner became an assistance machine
Mitch Marner is almost in thin air on the NHL leadership board with 20 points this season, approaching names like Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers (26 points) and Leon Draisaitl (23). He added three assists in the 5-1 victory over Vancouver. Interestingly, his three assists also came in the first three goals of the game.
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To say that Marner is in trouble may be an understatement. In the last six games, he scored 11 points (three goals and eight assists). He is also delighting with the Canucks and averages three points during the first two games in his team’s three-game series, after scoring a goal and five assists.
Marner, 23, got off to a warm start in the 2020-21 season and reached the scoreboard in 10 of the 12 games he played.
Item four: Is Mikko Lehtonen finding his Mojo?
What was I saying yesterday about Mikko Lehtonen feeling uncomfortable? Lehtonen added two assists and made a 3-plus in his team’s 5-1 win on Saturday. It was Lehtonen’s fifth game of the season, but his first game with several points. Although he played only about 14 minutes, the least among all Maple Leafs defenders, he had a strong offensive night.
Even though Travis Dermott’s charley horse is ready for Monday’s game, Lehtonen, 27, may have won another match in the rematch against the Canucks. He now has three assists in the season after his five games. (from “Matthews, Marner, Simmonds stars as Leafs easily handles Canucks (again)”, Terry Koshan, Toronto Sun, 07/02/21).
What’s next for Maple Leafs?
One thing that seems to have gone unnoticed this season is the Maple Leafs defense game – and that’s a good thing. There is little drama from the past few seasons, and the only problem I regularly observe is the ice time dispute between Dermott and Lehtonen.
It seems that good things happen without even a whisper. Morgan Rielly is a horse and played almost 25 minutes last night. Zach Bogosian and Justin Holl seem to be quietly doing their job. I see Jake Muzzin on the ice, but he doesn’t seem to be making many mistakes.
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But the only player who now appears to have completely escaped the radar is newcomer TJ Brodie. Last night he played at 20 minutes and, although I noticed him, I didn’t really notice him. I think his game has changed a lot since the beginning of the season. That seems like good news to me, and it can only mean better news for the Maple Leafs as they go along.
It is too early to suggest that the defensive problems of the team could be a thing of the past?