LEAF NOTES: Time to get penalty kill consistent as NHL schedule ends
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If Craig Berube can’t come back from California with a sweep, he wants the Maple Leafs to clean up their penalty killing.
Asked by reporters Thursday in San Jose, before the first of three West Coast contests, what areas the Maple Leafs should give most attention to with 11 matches remaining, the coach quickly segued into improving the club’s 16th rank when short-handed. The 78.2% reading puts Toronto with a group of teams out of the playoffs at present, while it’s otherwise a solid first-place contender.
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Since Jan. 22 against Columbus, the last time no minors were called against Toronto, it’s 41-for-58 slide has been a concern.
“The PK’s been better, but we’ve gotta keep banging away,” Berube urged. “That’s going to be crucial down the stretch.”
Tampa Bay and Florida, two potential first-round playoff opponents, are ahead of the Leafs on kills and that could erase the strength Toronto derives from its hot power play.
“There’s the little things,” Berube said when asked for PK specifics. “You look at faceoffs, winning a draw, your clears down the ice, your clears breaking up a puck in the defensive zone. Those are important. And sticking with the structure. Simple things.”
He cautioned his players before the game that San Jose’s power play is running at 28%, and that forwards Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith are providing some bite to the young Sharks, in case the Leafs were expecting an easy game.
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DOUBLE VISION
It’s three weeks until the Leafs’ last regular-season game and if both goalies Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz are healthy, the starter in Game 1 will be the most scrutinized lineup decision.
Toronto has never had a goaltending tandem where one recorded at least 25 wins and the other 15, as Woll and Stolarz are poised to do, respectively. Woll was one shy of 25 prior to getting Thursday’s start.
Matt Murray reached 14, two years ago when Ilya Samsonov won 27 before Murray was hurt, while last season was unique when Samsonov (23 wins), Woll (12) and Martin Jones (11) all came in at double figures.
But before ’23-24, the most impressive pairs included Johnny Bower winning 20 in 1962-63, with Don Simmons getting 15 in his 28 appearances. That wasn’t far removed from the era where one man played most, or in some cases all, regular season games and playoffs. Ed Chadwick was the last Toronto goalie to go wire-to-wire in the ’56-57 schedule, while Harry Lumley played three seasons with just two games off out of 222, including playoffs.
But no one could touch Turk Broda between 1937-49. He didn’t miss a start in eight non-consecutive Leaf years, with time away in between for Canadian Forces service in World War II.
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LOOSE LEAFS
Berube sounds quite confident that wounded winger Max Pacioretty will eventually see playoff action. The 36-year-old has now missed 16 games in his latest injury reserve stint after getting hurt during training while on 4 Nations Face-Off break … Expect Brad Marchand to be in Florida’s lineup in the final two regular-season games against the Leafs on April 2 and 8. Coach Paul Maurice said the hoped-for debut of the former Boston captain could be this weekend as he comes off an upper-body injury … Stats that stand out (some interpretation required with empty net goals) is that prior to San Jose, Leafs are 5-0-0 when David Kampf or Pontus Holmberg score and the team is 8-0-0 when Matthew Knies or Bobby McMann tally two points or more … The Leafs have an impressive six players with 20 goals so far, near the top of the league. But to tie the team record they need Nick Robertson to get eight goals in the remaining 11 games. Four Toronto teams had seven skaters reach 20 since 1980-81, the last seven years ago with John Tavares, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Zach Hyman, Kasperi Kapanen, Andreas Johnsson and Morgan Rielly … With the No. 1 pick in the draft standing a good chance of falling their way, the Sharks could have 6-foot-2 Erie Otters’ defenceman Matthew Schaefer after the lottery. Saginaw centre Michael Misa is among the forward group after … Nikita Grebenkin, the right winger Toronto traded to Philly as part of the Laughton deal, had three points in his first four games with AHL Lehigh Valley … Berube passed Jack ‘Tex’ Evans in NHL games coa
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