LEAFS NOTES: Lineup tweaked for Game 6 but Matthews and Marner remain together
Article content
Craig Berube went into what could be the Maple Leafs last game of the season resolved to ‘dance with who brung you’.
The coach re-inserted bottom-six forwards Calle Jarnkrok and Pontus Holmberg on Friday, after both sat Game 5 for Nick Robertson and David Kampf.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
LEAFS NOTES: Lineup tweaked for Game 6 but Matthews and Marner remain together Back to video
No other changes were indicated Friday morning, with the undisciplined Max Domi and slumping Bobby McMann retained.
While there is a bit of a flu bug going around the team earlier in the week, Jarnkrok and Holmberg did skate Wednesday morning and were available that evening. Robertson did get a goal, albeit long after the Florida horses were out of the barn in a 6-1 loss, keeping his extraordinary streak of scoring after a long press-box hiatus.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
And the coach reiterated in his pre-game comments that it made little sense to split up Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, neither able to generate scoring chances in this series.
“They’ve had a lot of success,” Berube told media in Sunrise, Fla. “So I trust them, I believe in them.”
There were no planned changes on defence or in goal, with Anthony Stolarz still unable to travel in support of Joseph Woll.
COWBOY KEEPS RIDING
While the Leafs don’t have a first-round draft pick next month (unless they trade for one), they do have Easton Cowan on the horizon.
The creative forward is going to have another shot at the Memorial Cup in his last year with the London Knights after they defeated the Oshawa Generals 5-2 on Thursday night to win another Ontario Hockey League crown.
Cowan had a goal and assist in the victory, giving him 96 career playoff points in 60 games, second in OHL history. He has been a late camp cut twice while in the shadow of Fraser Minten — a high draft pick a year earlier in 2022 — who was dealt to Boston in the Brandon Carlo trade.
Cowan and the Knights made the Memorial Cup final last June, but lost 4-3 in the final to the host Saginaw Spirit.
BLOCK IT OUT
Paul Dennis, a former Leafs assistant coach and team psychologist, had an interesting take on the blanket of negativity around the team after Game 5.
“It’s disappointing in one sense, but understandable from another perspective,” said Dennis, a retired professor of Sports Psychology at the University of Toronto and York University.
“Firstly, it has been documented that people have a tendency to respond more intensely to negative events than positive ones. That’s one possible explanation why fans might throw jerseys on the ice, boo the players, or have commentators, such as Chris Pronger, Mark Messier and P.K. Subban ramp up their criticism of the team.
“Players and coaches would be wise to shift their focus from what’s wrong, to what they know they’re capable of. The power of the mind can be instrumental in effecting change. The more an athlete realizes that the only thing he or she can control is their effort and positive attitude, then they’re giving themselves a chance to win.
“Ruminating on what could go wrong increases the likelihood that it will go wrong.”
RAT PACK
Panthers coach Paul Maurice was asked Friday about how his players have taken to such a once-despised opponent as Brad Marchand now in their locker room. He said the most bitter of hockey rivals eventually come to a grudging understanding.
“The handshake at the end of a series is real. They probably don’t like each other. At that moment it’s very hard, but they still find a way. There is a respect among heavier, harder players.
“We’ve taken one or two events (of Marchand at his aggressive best) and seen them 12,000 times. They didn’t happen 12,000 times. But there are 12,000 events of players skating around making great plays. (Highlights) of Sam Bennett and Marchy going at it, don’t happen as often as you think.”
LOOSE LEAFS
Marner was asked about how he unwinds in the wake of the three straight losses and the public’s disgruntled response. “Hang out with my son and dog. They have no idea what’s happening in this world” … Friday was John Tavares’ 50th Leafs playoff game, tying Syl Apps and Gary Roberts in the team’s history books … Going into the game, Morgan Rielly’s plus-14 was tied with Bob Baun for the highest by a Leafs defenceman since the stat was kept in playoffs. Carl Brewer’s plus-25 leads the franchise … Looking way ahead, the AHL Toronto Marlies have established their home opener will be Oct. 11 against an unnamed opponent.
X: @sunhornby
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.