Don’t sleep yet: Maple Leafs find first-line winger in explosive comeback win

TORONTO — It was 4-1.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were getting booed lustily off home ice after 20 minutes of uninspired hockey against a fierce rival. 

Before getting pulled after allowing four goals on 13 shots, the Leafs’ starting goaltender had been Bronx-cheered for the triumph of catching a long-range puck whistled directly at the logo on his chest.

The Leafs’ fumbling penalty kill had surrendered two more, the team had wasted a beautiful opening strike by rookie Matthew Knies, and Toronto was 40 minutes away from its first five-game losing skid since the North Division was something that we didn’t just imagine. 

Thing is, back in 2021 there were no fans in Scotiabank Arena to boo the slump or razz the goalie.

Lay another egg Monday, against the Tampa Bay “We Actually Stick Up for Each Other” Lightning, and these Maple Leafs were going to hear it.

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“You come off the bench, you are feeling pretty s—– with how the first period went, of course,” Sheldon Keefe said. “Everybody was.”

But the coach took a breath, pored over some video and fancy stats, and chose encouragement over anger in his intermission address. 

Keefe entered the home dressing room dangling a carrot, not whipping a stick: The game isn’t as dire as the scoreboard reads. Just win one period. Crawl back. Stay with it.

“It was huge. I mean, I don’t think anyone was pouting during the intermission,” Knies said. “I think everyone was just really excited to get back out there and prove people wrong.”

Before the second period was six minutes old, Auston Matthews had already scored his 12th and 13th goals of this 12-game season, punctuating the latter with an on-the-glass celebration instructing those same boobirds to change their tune. 

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Get off your seats. A comeback is afoot.

“After the first, just the energy and the boos and stuff — rightfully so,” Matthews conceded. 

“But… didn’t want them to go to sleep quite yet.”

Added Keefe of Matthews’ emotions elevating with his production: “That’s the kinda stuff you love to see.”

Still, prior to Monday’s hellacious 6-5 overtime vicotry, one couldn’t blame the fans for being lulled into a sense of insecurity with this version of the Maple Leafs, which has more flaws than Edward Scissorhands’ comic book collection.

But a fun night at the home barn — with 40-plus minutes of in-sync forward lines, showtime celebrations, stellar relief goaltending and OT heroics — can flip a narrative quick and paper over some troubling inefficiencies.

Toronto seized a third-period lead early with goals from Calle Järnkrok and Mitch Marner eight seconds apart, the NHL’s speediest strikes in succession so far this season.

And although Brandon Hagel tied things up again late to save Tampa a point, Järnkrok struck again in the fourth period, freezing the clock and snuffing the skid.

“It’s tough for Matty to have a hat trick every game,” Järnkrok said. “I guess it’s good for the rest of us to get a couple in, too.”

Secondary scoring has been no small issue in this city. 

So, even though Matthews and Marner had been producing just fine with Järnkrok on their top line, Keefe approached his favourite utility winger with a third-line demotion Sunday. 

Pro that he is, Järnkrok understood: “We aren’t winning games.”

Moving Järnkrok to an entirely new third line centred by Max Domi finally gave Keefe a scoring threat farther down the bench.

Even better: Knies’s promotion to the Matthews-Marner penthouse could not have been smoother. All three put up three even-strength points minimum and finished plus-four.

“I just have to simplify my game when playing with them. Just be around the net, create space for them, and just forechecking, get pucks back,” Knies said. “I kind of just focused on that throughout the game, and I think it worked well.”

Knies made a buttery pass on Matthews’ second goal, sprung Marner for his, and executed a nifty bit of hand-eye to knock down a midair puck and kick it to his blade for his own goal in tight. 

That skill of controlling airborne pucks is something Ryan O’Reilly turned Knies onto during the playoffs last spring, so he worked on it diligently through the summer.

“I think Factor was a big influence on that and does a really good job on that kind of stuff. It kinda opened my eyes up to it,” Knies explained. “It’s really good to good skill to have, and I think it’s very important.”

More important: The Maple Leafs completed a win against a worthy opponent in which the lines looked like they fit. The first and third units haven’t clicked this well all year.

“We’ve gotten good results different times, but our process hasn’t felt great all season,” Keefe said.

“That was the best I felt about the rhythm of our group.”

The Maple Leafs will try to stay on beat Wednesday, when they host the Ottawa Senators.

Fox’s Fast Five

• In the 28:42 Samsonov has been in net against the Lightning this season, Kucherov has snapped four goals and put up three primary assists for seven points. Straight roasting his countryman. Kucherov’s four points in the first period Monday tied a club record.

How much you wanna bet Woll starts on April 3, next time the Leafs and Lightning face off?

• Robertson (one assist, one steal, one hit) and Simon Benoit (two shots, two blocks) looked solid in their season debuts.

Robertson–Domi–Järnkrok delivered sustained O-zone time, outshooting the Bolts 6-2, and Benoit simplified his game with three nice hits and ate decent minutes (14:41). The big D-man earned way more trust than Maxime Lajoie did in his brief look Saturday.

Here’s Matthews on Robertson: “He was tenacious. He was all over the puck. He was winning battles. He looked strong… And he’s an important player in our organization. Looked like he was playing with some confidence tonight.”

• Auston Matthews is outscoring the San Jose Sharks 13-12.

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• The Lightning have hung around playoff position despite the absence of all-world goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who underwent back surgery Sept. 28.

Vasilevskiy isn’t traveling with the team yet, but his rehab is going well. Coach Jon Cooper sounds optimistic for an early return, between Nov. 23 and Dec. 1.

“I’ll be disappointed if it’s early December,” he said. “Hopefully, it’s a little earlier. We were kind of shooting for that Thanksgiving time. He’s making great progress. He’d rather be doing more than he can right now, but the timeline still has to be the same.”

• Ryan Reaves didn’t take a shift in the second half of the game and finished with a season-low ice time of 4:32. He’s cracked 10 minutes just once as a Leaf.

Keefe correctly pointed out that Tampa’s fourth-line banger, Austin Watson, was also benched (3:30). He sees it as a saw-off.

“I just shortened things up, trying to win the game,” Keefe explained. “That’s the decision I made tonight.”

More from Sportsnet

Maple Leafs erase 4-1 deficit, beat Lightning in overtime to snap skid

Lightning chase Maple Leafs’ Samsonov with four goals in first period

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