Anyone who saw the news on Tuesday afternoon about the injuries sustained by the Toronto Maple Leafs had to believe that the club was headed for a loss against the New Jersey Devils. The Leafs were already without leading scorer William Nylander going into the match against the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, and in the 3-2 overtime loss, Toronto lost defenseman Chris Tanev, winger Dakota Joshua, and, most importantly, team captain Auston Matthews. Those absences did not seem to matter for one night, as the Leafs shutout the Devils 4-0 at the Scotiabank Arena.
Bobby McMann, Nicolas Roy, Calle Jarnkrok, and Matthew Knies scored for Toronto, and Joseph Woll made 33 saves for his first shutout of the season. It was not a dominant performance, but the fact that a club played as well as they did without their two top goal scorers, their best defensive defenseman and a big physical winger was the most impressive display by the club this season.
Here are a few thoughts on the victory:
Robertson Thriving With Top Six Opportunity
It has long been my assertion that the Leafs have done a disservice to Nick Robertson and the club by playing him in the bottom six. The 24-year-old has a top-six skill set and needs to be played on a scoring line, but because of his size and defensive abilities, both coaches behind the respective benches on Tuesday – Sheldon Keefe and Craig Berube – have used him in a secondary support role. Robertson registered a pair of assists on McMann and Roy’s goals, and in the last three games has five points (2 goals, 3 assists). Size and defense be damned at this point, defensive ability has not affected Nylander’s ice time, and at times he has been horrific in his own end, but he scores enough to make up for it. In a top-six role either with Matthews or Tavares, Robertson can do the same and is showing it currently.
Knies Playing Like Power Forward
We have not seen it enough times this season, but against the Devils, Matthew Knies played a prototypical power forward game. The Leafs do not want the big winger to be Tom Wilson and take on all comers, but the 23-year-old did not shy away from dropping the gloves with Devils captain Nico Hischier, who tried to spark his club, but instead was served a meal of knuckle sandwiches. Knies has four goals in the last five games and appears to be over the injury issues that dragged him down early this month.
Woll Is A Wall
Another ongoing assertion of yours truly has been that one of the top priorities for the Leafs is to find out if Joseph Woll is capable of being a #1 goaltender. Part of being a #1 is playing a lot of games, and that is something that Woll cannot do (at least not eight of nine games like Berube used him in before being injured), but with a properly dispersed workload, he is providing Toronto with excellent performances between the pipes. Other than the game in Montreal in which he was mercy-pulled, the only time that Woll has given up more than three goals was in the 7-5 win over Ottawa on Saturday. He is 4-1 since returning from the injured list on December 16, and has a .923 save percentage this season.
If and when Anthony Stolarz returns, the younger Woll should be the 1A, and the more injury-prone Stolarz needs to be the 1B.
Quillan Is An NHLer
Another Berube trait that has been with him, going back to Philadelphia, is his unwillingness to use rookies. That has been the case recently with Easton Cowan – healthy scratching him for three straight games – and was the case on Tuesday with call-up Jacob Quillan. The Leafs head coach intimated that the Marlies leading scorer is an NHL player, and in a minuscule 7:01, he showed impressive speed and an awareness that deserves a longer look. Observers have critiqued Toronto as being one of the slower teams in the NHL, and players like Cowan and Quillan, who do skate well, should be used more.
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