Leafs getting into post-season gear with solid road win in Winnipeg

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Sheldon Keefe couldn’t have asked for much more out of his Maple Leafs on Saturday night.

Perhaps the Leafs coach would have liked to have seen his club score on one of its four power plays against the Winnipeg Jets.
Let’s not nit-pick.

On the back of a sound road effort, the Leafs put more space between themselves and the second-place Jets in the North, handily winning 4-1.

After giving up a Nikolaj Ehlers goal in the opening minute on the first Jets shot, the Leafs put the game in their grip. With the playoffs not far off, it was the kind of team performance that could be used as a blueprint once the post-season starts.

“We bounced back (from the Ehlers goal) and didn’t look back,” Keefe said. “That’s something, the resilience and confidence of our team and to not get rattled.

“I really liked the contribution — all throughout the lineup, from four lines, six defencemen — for whatever the game called for. There are a number of great things and we cannot overlook how Jack Campbell played (in goal).

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“It’s a team win. That’s what it takes to win, when it counts the most, is contributions from all throughout the lineup.”

The Leafs improved to 30-13-5 and have an eight-point lead on the Jets or first place in the North. Winnipeg has one game in hand.

There is no love lost between these two teams, however. The physical element has gone to another level, never mind the jawing, and if they meet in the playoffs, the entertainment value will be high.

Front and centre in the heat on Saturday was Leafs veteran Joe Thornton, who had a running feud with Ehlers after taking a slash from the Winnipeg forward, one that Thornton figured would get a look from the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.

Not long ago, one could have felt that Thornton would be the odd man out for the playoffs if the Leafs have a full group of healthy forwards. Not if he keeps playing the way he has been. At 41, Thornton is setting an example.

“It’s a good sign for our team that things are different, that it’s a different time of year,” Keefe said.

“There has been a switch that has flipped for Joe in the last few weeks, and he’s bringing more fire competitively on the ice, more fire in the dressing room, more fire on the bench.

“He is striking a nice balance between energy and positivity with a level of seriousness, competitiveness. That combination is what drives winning.”

There’s an on-going argument as to whether Winnipeg has a better, deeper group of forwards than Toronto. In head-to-head games, it has been advantage Leafs.

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The Leafs are 6-3-0 against the Jets, with one game remaining between the clubs. Toronto has won its past seven games in Winnipeg, including four this season. The Leafs haven’t lost to the Jets in Manitoba since Oct. 19, 2016.
Leafs captain John Tavares extended his points streak to eight games when he scored in the second period. In his past 11 games, he has 16 points.
Ilya Mikheyev returned to the Toronto lineup after missing two games with an undisclosed injury and set up Alex Kerfoot’s empty-netter.

Tavares scored the lone goal of the second period, converting a pass from William Nylander after the Leafs had taken a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

Thornton became the oldest Leaf to score a goal, at the age of 41 years and 296 days, when he beat Connor Hellebuyck on a wraparound at 4:04 of the first period to tie the game 1-1. Allan Stanley had held the Leafs record.

At 11:40, Mitch Marner scored into a vacant Jets net when the puck caromed off the stanchion. It was the 100th goal of Marner’s NHL career and his 350th point, coming in his 348th game.

The Leafs aren’t a dirty team — anyone who watches them play every night can tell you that — but the goofy idea that they are might have got more steam when defenceman Rasmus Sandin crushed Jets captain Blake Wheeler with a reverse hit toward the end of the first period. There was nothing wrong with the check, and the lone penalty came when Kyle Connor went after Sandin and got a roughing minor.

The physicality is welcome with Zach Bogosian out for at least four weeks with a shoulder injury. If Sandin can use his body like that every so often, all the better for a Leafs defence corps that is not overly active that way, unless you’re Jake Muzzin.

Sandin had a strong performance, got some time quarterbacking the No. 1 power-play unit, and assisted on Tavares’ goal.
“Sandy’s phenomenal,” Tavares said. “You see he’s going to be a real special player for us, not only now, but what he’s going to evolve into.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

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