The Toronto Maple Leafs began their exhibition schedule with a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators in St. John’s, Newfoundland on Tuesday, as a number of players made their Leafs debut and others began making their case for earning a roster spot.
Kasperi Kapanen scored Toronto’s only goal early in the third period on a setup by Mitch Marner, but Marner’s defensive zone giveaway resulted in Tristian Scherwey’s game-winner midway through the final frame.
The game featured the battle for fourth line center between veteran Jason Spezza and Frederik Gauthier. Although Spezza was on the ice and partially screened Frederik Andersen on Maxime Lajoie’s opening goal, the former Sen played well and showed some offensive creativity five-on-five and on the Toronto power play.
Gauthier had a breakaway and scoring chance from the slot during the game, but as has been the case for most of his NHL career, the big center was unable to convert on his opportunities.
In the battle on defense, Martin Marincin was partnered with newcomer Jordan Schmaltz and once again displayed his inadequacies and bad decision making, but the lanky Slovak played heavy minutes on the Leafs penalty kill, which may be his ticket to making the club with the departure of Ron Hainsey and Nikita Zaitsev.
Schmaltz showed his mobility and made a good impression in his Leafs debut, where he has a good chance to earn the bottom pairing right defense spot.
In the depth winger battle, Trevor Moore showed of his skating ability, Jeremy Bracco his playmaking and passing prowess and Mason Marchment his size and sandpaper, while Egor Korshkov was not impressive and showed some sluggishness.
The other half of the Leafs roster will make their debut in Kanata, ON on Wednesday in the second of back-to-back meetings between the Ontario rivals at the Canadian Tire Centre. Auston Matthews will play between likely regular season linemates Andreas Johnsson and William Nylander while center Alex Kerfoot will make his Toronto debut between KHL import Ilya Mikheyev and Nic Petan.
In the depth competition, Pontus Aberg will play with fellow free agent signees Nick Shore and Kalle Kossila, and Kenny Agostino will line up with Tyler Gaudet and former Flyer Matt Read. On defense, Morgan Rielly will skate with former Sen Cody Ceci, 2018 first rounder Rasmus Sandin will shift to the right side to play with big Ben Harpur, and Teemu Kivihalme partners with Timothy Liljegren.
Michael Hutchinson gets the start for Toronto and could solidify his claim on the backup goaltending job over Michal Neuvirth, who is not healthy enough to play.
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