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The Toronto Maple Leafs were finally able to get off to a quick start after falling behind early in recent games, as Andreas Johnsson’s first period hat trick propelled the Leafs to a 6-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.
Johnsson, who had not played up to the expectations of head coach Mike Babcock early in the season and was in and out of the lineup in October, had just two goals in 18 games entering the contest, but the speedy 24-year-old looked more like the player that earned Most Valuable Player honors in last season’s Calder Cup Playoffs, blowing by the Flyers defense and beating former Marlies teammate Calvin Pickard between the legs three times in 12:20.
Patrick Marleau, Josh Leivo and John Tavares also scored, Mitch Marner had two assists and Garret Sparks made 34 saves for the shutout as the Leafs snapped their two-game losing skid.
The Leafs have been able to win without Auston Matthews in the lineup, due mostly to Frederik Andersen’s goaltending and players like Tavares, Marner, Morgan Rielly, Kasperi Kapanen and Nazem Kadri picking up the pace, but the win on Saturday was mostly a result of the club’s bottom six, who scored four of their six goals.
“Everybody is important on a team, all 23 people.… Babcock said after the game. “(The quality of the NHL) takes your confidence away. The players are too good and you never touch the puck. For (Andreas) tonight, this is a big step. Now, can he turn it into something and get some rhythm in his game and get going? Ideally, he can.…
Leafs GM Kyle Dubas may face what some would consider a good problem to have in the next week or so, as Matthews closes in on a return to the lineup and the William Nylander impasse is resolved either with a new contract or by trading the 22-year-old.
Toronto has left an open spot for Matthews (who could be back as soon as one of the three games this week), but will have to make a move on the 23-man roster to add Nylander or the player(s) acquired for him, which has some of the club’s bottom six forwards trying to stay in the coach’s good graces and stepping up prior to decision time.
“I don't think they're sensing (they’re in a competition), I think they know it. They're smart guys.… Babcock said. With Matthews return, the likely choice will be to sit Frederik Gauthier and move Par Lindholm to the fourth line. Lindholm has been more effect at center after moving from the wing on the checking line and is also part of the Leafs penalty kill, while Gauthier has showed effort and thrown his weight around at times, but cannot convert what few offensive chances he has. If Nylander re-signs, the likely move will be to healthy scratch Josh Leivo (who has played well in a fourth-line role) and waiving either Martin Marincin or Justin Holl, but based on the fact that the free agent winger has not been practicing with the team, it could take him a week or so to get his conditioning up to game level. That is making the assumption that the 22-year-old and the Leafs come to an agreement by 5pm Saturday. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston on HNIC’s Saturday Headlines believes that the Nylander camp would accept a six-year contract just under $7 Million per season, that a long-term deal is still a possibility, but a bridge deal for a lesser amount is still an option. Elliotte Friedman indicated that the two sides are still $500,000 apart, which is still a significant amount per season. Based on the numbers reported earlier that two sides were offering, it appears that the Leafs have stuck pretty close to an amount of David Pastrnak’s deal with Boston ($6.66 Million AAV) and are hoping to get Nylander’s camp to come down from anything in the neighborhood of $7 Million. *******
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— The Leafs Convo (@TheLeafsConvo) November 24, 2018