Beast Was A Beauty In Leafs Defensive Gem

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been able to find the secret to a winning level of success after hitting the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. It’s not something revelatory, it is called energetic effort at both ends of the ice. The Leafs did that in a shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens in the first game of a five-game homestand on Saturday, and repeated that in their best defensive effort of the season, a 2-0 shutout of the Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena on Monday. 

Toronto did not have much of a cushion, managing only a Morgan Rielly goal to take the lead late in the first period, but the Leafs put forth a playoff-style, workmanlike effort and got another stellar effort from rookie  Dennis Hildeby, who made 29 saves for his first NHL shutout. 

“A solid game, (Hildeby) was good. Overall, I think we did a good job. (Tampa is) obviously a talented group over there. I think we did a good job at limiting real high quality scoring changes.” Leafs head coach Craig Berube said after the game. “It wasn’t a high event game, but I’m ok with that.”

There is no coincidence between Toronto shoring up the defensive end of the ice, getting improved play between the pipes, and climbing the standings. Following a poor defensive effort in a 5-2 loss to Montreal on November 22, the Leafs have gone 5-1-1 and allowed just 10 goals. With the victory, Toronto is just two points out of the two East wildcard spots and second and third spots in the Atlantic Division.  

The game had it’s share of physicality to it, but the focal point was a third-period incident where Lightning forward Gage Goncalves went knee-to-knee with Leafs blueliner Dakota Mermis. Mermis was helped off the ice and did not return, and Goncalves was assessed a major for kneeing and a game misconduct. In the ensuing aftermath, Dakota Joshua dropped the gloves with Lightning defenseman Max Crozier, but Leafs forward Bobby McMann took a retaliatory match penalty against Tampa’s Oliver Bjorkstrand. 

On Tuesday morning, the NHL Department of Player Safety revealed that they will have a hearing with McMann on his incident, but it does not appear that Goncalves will get anything more than his major-and-game misconduct. Berube indicated that Mermis was unable to return and that his injury situation will be evaluated on Tuesday.