Wednesday night saw a highly contested game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Washington Capitals. With lots of drama in the game, including a number of close-call video reviews, the tension was high. Down 3–1 in the third, the Leafs needed a comeback to force overtime. The extra frame was equally tense, ending with a great save by Joseph Woll that led to a John Tavares breakaway winner.
The result was good for the Leafs, but emotions ran wild either way. Let’s take a look at some of the many storylines that came out of a highly entertaining game.
Season debuts
After Connor Dewar made his season debut Tuesday night against the Ottawa Senators, it was Jani Hakanpaa and Alex Steeves making their debuts against the Caps. The Leafs ended up juggling all of their forward lines and defence pairs in the process.
For Hakanpaa, it was a Leafs debut coming off of an injury. The Leafs opted to move the recently minted 1000-game man Oliver Ekman-Larsson to the left, his strong side, alongside Conor Timmins. Hakanpaa, meanwhile, took Morgan Rielly’s right side. Despite his knee injury, Hakanpaa was skating quite well, even jumping up into the play on several occasions. We will have to wait and see how committed to this full health configuration coach Craig Berube is.
In a sense, the biggest surprise of the early season on this blueline is how Conor Timmins has carved out a legitimate spot. The expectation might have been keeping the top four intact, yet Timmins and Hakanpaa have enough of the Leafs trust to have earned significant minutes. This comes at the expense of Simon Benoit, who does bring many of the same attributes as Hakanpaa does.
Depth forwards
Tavares looks rejuvenated after recovering from an early-season illness. William Nylander is tied for the league lead in goals. Mitch Marner was instrumental in the victory, as he has been all season. Matthew Knies was mixed up in most of the action, continuing his strong season. Without Auston Matthews in the lineup, the Leafs stars have led the charge. For a ravenous Leafs nation, there is always something to be upset about. The topic of the moment is the forward depth, as several Leafs lower in the lineup have contributed very little offensive production.
It does not help that some key top-nine forwards are missing beyond Matthews. Max Pacioretty was a revelation before his injury. Calle Jarnkrok would certainly be an upgrade if he were healthy. Still, the lack of production from Nicholas Robertson has been disappointing. The message from Berube has often been to be direct, something that Bobby McMann took to heart in this game, firing shots and moving his feet with purpose. Separating Max Domi from Marner probably helps, as the two are very much pass-first players.
Enter Alex Steeves. Not the biggest player, Steeves embodies the directness that Berube demands, and a hot start to his AHL season earned him a look. Alongside David Kampf, who played well against the Caps, and Pontus Holmberg, the line had a strong night. It might not be enough to earn Steeves a full-time role, but at the very least he lived up to his reputation, attacking the net front at every opportunity.
Given how effective Pacioretty was, we should expect the Leafs to target big, forceful, direct players with any additions later this season. This might include Nikita Grebenkin, a 21-year-old AHL rookie who is second to Steeves for Toronto Marlies scorers. For now, the Leafs chose to reward Steeves’ effort and service time, giving Grebenkin more time to season with the Marlies.
With some edge and skill to his game, Grebenkin could be a great call-up option later this season. Fraser Minten, who scored his first AHL goal last night, might fit the same description, but is further away from a full-time role with the Leafs. Both should be appreciated by Berube, though the Leafs are likely trying to avoid yo-yoing up and down so early in their careers.
Reviews
An unavoidable part of the post-game discussion surrounded the number of video reviews and their cumulative length. With over 10 minutes between them, the reviews did slow down the pace of the game. Though calls went both ways, some of the calls were debatable, or at least a bit confusing. Fighting to come back late in the third period, the Leafs had two goals called back.
Knies’ goal was waived off immediately, the call standing after review as opposed to being confirmed. In this case, review was too inconclusive and could have gone either way. Steven Lorentz had his third-period goal called back for propelling the puck in with a kicking motion, which seems like a less conventional interpretation of the rule. Regardless, in the vacuum of this game, the Leafs resolve and determination should be the main takeaway, scoring four times to eliminate the two-goal, third-period deficit before winning in overtime.
Without their captain, and on the second half of a back-to-back, the Leafs showed a lot of heart in the victory. This early in the season each game is a huge swing in the standings, and so this impressive performance might quell some of the bubbling unrest. At 10–6–2 on the season, and now 4–1–0 without Matthews, the Leafs are starting to take their expected place near the top of the standings. While there have been some poor efforts and some concerning trends, Berube has this group headed in the right direction.
