First place in NHL North could have its perils

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First place?

Sure, but first things first.

Every fan of the seven Northern teams wants top spot, but those closest to the chase say be careful what you wish for.

In a season with no fans to heat up home ice, there’s definitely a different dynamic to first and the playoff home ice it guarantees.

“I don’t think that anyone feels it’s necessary and there’s a chance it may not even be advantageous,” suggested Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice, before his team’s attempt to wrestle the No. 1 seed from the Leafs ended in a 3-1 loss.

“You have to be careful about the team you might want to play in the first round. Lots of teams who start on the road almost feel they have an advantage. They can play the simpler playoff game and when there’s more pressure, that shifts to the home team.”

Edmonton could also emerge in first or second place, and don’t count out the fourth-seeded Canadiens when they start making up their backlog of games.

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For Toronto, a club without home ice in three first-round eliminations and a fourth last summer when it was a host bubble, top spot would be a nice reward for long-suffering fans, just its third division title since 1963. But coach Sheldon Keefe just wants his team playing its best by the second week of May, wherever it lands.

“We’ve been in first a good portion of the season and that’s something we wanted, to show we’re doing good things,” he said. “Maintaining consistency is a challenge and we’ve lived through that to build the proper habits. No matter the playoff setting or who your opponent is, you (want to) feel confident about the work you’ve done to get to that point.”

Forward Andrew Copp of the Jets recalled his team’s series against St. Louis two years ago when the home team won once in six games and Winnipeg was knocked out.

“I don’t know if (first place) has too much influence in the playoffs, but it’s something you want. Without fans it’s probably not as big (remember those spirited Winnipeg White-Outs?). Having last line change is good but it doesn’t dictate the game.”

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YOUR MOVE, COACH

Monday’s game was hyped as a high-stakes chess, with little to choose from for Maurice and Keefe to match with four strong lines on each team.

But any grand strategy was disrupted by the two quick Toronto goals from the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner-Zach Hyman line, while a major piece fell when Jets’ star Blake Wheeler was lost with a first-period injury. A whack of penalties also had killers stealing the spotlight, with Alex Kerfoot’s huge short-handed breakaway goal during TJ Brodie’s double minor to make it 3-0.

“To come out even (Winnipeg’s fourth ranked unit did get one after he scored) with that many minutes killing is a good sign,” Kerfoot said.

He had the clutch goal against Connor Hellebuyck that eluded the Leafs in the three-game series back in Toronto.

“Once I got clear of their d-man, I saw he was kind of far back in his net and I just got it up as quick as I could.”

Energy was a theme all evening for the Leafs, who sensed the Jets would be flat at MTS Centre after seven road games.

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“We wanted to jump on them quick,” said Hyman, who also finished a strong defensive shift by being involved with towering Winnipeg defenceman Logan Stanley during a scrum.

POWER OFF

The Leafs’ power play, 0-for-5 Monday and now on an 0-for-24 skid, is an ongoing concern. Matthews agreed it’s disorganized and that both units need to get better looks, to simplify things, to get just one goal and surely others will follow.

Keefe, who has talked himself hoarse on the topic, wouldn’t even go there, at least until Thursday’s practice.

“I’ll leave it be for today. We’ll continue to work at it. The power play ended up not being a factor because of our penalty kill. We’ll focus on the positives. It’s a big road win for us.”

SWAP TALK ON MUTE

While all of the above is going on, April has now arrived to start the 12-day countdown to the NHL trade deadline. Not that the Jets have noticed, busy playing 12 of their 17 games in March on the road.

“In a short schedule, maybe it feels there hasn’t been as much talk about it,” Maurice said of the deadline. “That’s what it feels like around here. The normal trade deadline feels like there’s a long ramp-up to it and more time for speculation. Maybe we’ve been on the road a long time and haven’t read anything. There just doesn’t seem to be as many guys asking: ‘Hey, what do you hear? What’s going on?’

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“None of this (season) feels the same. Probably all of these teams that are happy where their games are at are closer (knit) than at any other time. We just spent 12 games on the road, been together every day, all the time.”

LOOSE LEAFS

Matthews’ goal was his 182nd as a Leaf, passing Phil Kessel for 18th in franchise history. He did it in 131 fewer games than Phil … With two assists, Marner is now at 241, which put him past Lanny McDonald for 16th … The Marlies had a new dimension in their lineup Wednesday night in winning their third straight, 5-2 over the visiting Stockton Heat. Nick Robertson, back from a slow-healing oblique muscle injury, scored the winner from Semyon Der-Arguchintsev, now free from quarantine after coming from the KHL. The latter also assisted on Kalle Kossila’s early goal. Tyler Gaudet, Kenny Agostino and Nic Petan also scored while Joseph Woll made 22 saves with ex-Leaf Garret Sparks in the other net.

lhornby@postmedia.com