The comment from Mike Babcock on Thursday morning had a bit of a smart-alecky tone to it, and as these sorts of things tend to go, it came back to bite later.
In a big way.
Asked about a stacked Tampa Bay Lightning line of Brayden Point between Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov , the Maple Leafs coach cracked, “I’m not sure there’s enough puck to go around, we can find out.”
Oh, the porous Leafs found out all right on Thursday night.
The three Tampa stars combined for 11 points in Tampa’s 7-3 victory against Toronto before a crowd of 19,387 at Scotiabank Arena.
As far as ugly Leafs losses go in the Babcock era, this was among the bloodiest. It marked the first time since Nov. 8, 2016, when the Los Angeles Kings won 7-0, that the Leafs allowed seven goals on home ice. The Leafs, who have lost three in a row, didn’t allow seven goals in a game anywhere in each of the past two seasons.
“They were fast, they were on the puck, they were tenacious, they did it right,” Babcock said of the Lightning as a whole. “They stripped us from behind, they won 50-50 battles all over the rink. Even when we had the puck, suddenly they had the puck. In the end, it wasn’t good enough for us.
“We didn’t look like a very good hockey club. They looked quicker, better, more organized — say whatever you want — more skilled. We didn’t give ourselves a chance.”
Not that goaltender Frederik Andersen had much support, but he was not good and was lifted in favour of Michael Hutchinson after Kucherov converted a Stamkos pass at 6:57 of the third. Andersen allowed seven goals on 28 shots.
Point played in his first game of 2019-20 after recovering from off-season hip surgery and was on the puck all night, finishing with two goals and one assist. Kucherov had two goals and two assists, and Stamkos had one goal and three assists.
The first period was the kind that fans love and keep coaches up at night, as Tampa led 4-3 by the time the buzzer sounded, scoring two power-play goals on three opportunities. Babcock said the three minors got the Leafs out of sync, but in the end, Toronto had nothing to show for the final 40 minutes anyway.
If you’re looking for positives from the Leafs — and we understand we’re stretching it a bit here after the brutal effort — a few were obvious.
Really, the best of the night was using a recording of Maple Leafs Gardens announcer Paul Morris for the last minute of each period.
John Tavares scored his first goal as Leafs captain, coming in his fifth game. Just twice last season as Tavares steamed toward a career-high 47 goals did he go five games without scoring.
The goal mattered little to Tavares in the aftermath.
“We’ve got to come back to work and realize the way we played isn’t good enough,” Tavares said. “We have to be a lot better, execute much more consistently and understand what’s going to bring us success and not feed into their type of game and their type of skill, the type of plays they can to make. We just didn’t do a good job of making it hard on them.”
Kasperi Kapanen drew a secondary assist, his first point of the season, when Tavares re-directed a Justin Holl shot past Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy at 7:46 of the first.
That gave the Leafs a 2-1 lead. Unfortunately, Babcock couldn’t freeze the game and walk out of the building with a victory.
Auston Matthews scored his sixth goal in five games toward the end of the period, beating Vasilevskiy with a backhand after collecting a Jake Muzzin rebound.
Andreas Johnsson also scored his first of the season, coming after Point gave Tampa an early 1-0 lead.
Kucherov scored after Tavares’ goal, tying the game 2-2 at 11:24 of the first. At 12:45, Kevin Shattenkirk scored on a backhand after getting past Morgan Rielly , who has not looked himself in the early stages.
Stamkos scored on a one-timer in the final minute of the first with Nic Petan in the box.
Point scored the lone goal in the second, and it was Ondrej Palat , off the skate off Kapanen, and Kucherov scoring in the third.
The Leafs figured the Lightning would serve as a strong early test. Toronto failed, playing with little enthusiasm.
The calendar said Oct. 10, but these kinds of losses are inexcusable at any time.
“It’s time to bear down a little more than we did (on Thursday night),” Rielly said.
No kidding.
ONE-TIMER ONLY
Matthews continues to try to perfect his one-timer, and if Stamkos had some advice to offer, it would be to practise the shot as much as possible.
Stamkos long has had his one-timer working to the point it appears to be completely natural. Appearances can be deceiving.
“I spent a lot of time (working on it), I still spend a lot of time,” Stamkos said. “It’s one thing I continue to keep practising, before practice, after practice. In today’s game, the goalies are so elite that you need to get the puck off quick, and for me, I found that’s way that you can score a lot of goals is by having that quick release.
“(Matthews) has scored so many goals with that great wrist shot of his. I think more guys have (the one-timer) in their bag, it’s just whether or not you feel comfortable. But yeah, ever since I was probably 13 years old, it was something I focused on and have had success.”
As long as Matthews plays on his off-side on Leafs’ power plays, he’s going to be relied upon to make his one-timer work. As Stamkos and others have said, Matthews’ wrist shot is lethal and has few equals. Another weapon in Matthews’ array of talent is the last thing NHL goaltenders want to experience.
Matthews cited Stamkos, Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets as players whose one-timers he admires.
“Still getting the feel for it,” Matthews said. “It’s a lot harder of a shot than you really think of.
“You watch guys like Ovie and Stammer and Laine, they just tee it up and it’s going in their spot every time. It really is a tough shot, still something I am trying to improve on and I think Mitch ( Marner ) as well, especially on that power play, trying to open up that seam and open up those areas for us that we can get that one-timer off and be as accurate as possible.
“It’s a hard shot. I never really took them before, and this year we switched (on the power play) and try to work on it over the summer. It’s not easy, so I think it gives you an appreciation for the guys who have been doing it for quite some time, guys that made it their trademark.”
The toughest aspect of the one-timer to master?
“Timing,” Matthews said. “Accuracy. There are a lot of things going on.”
JUSTIN’S TIME?
Holl got another shot on Thursday night, playing alongside 19-year-old rookie Rasmus Sandin on the Leafs’ third pair.
Holl, who played in just 11 games last season as he bided his time as a healthy scratch, had a truthful perspective on his situation.
“(Sandin) doesn’t have the experience, but really I don’t either,” Holl said. “I have played in 15 (NHL) games (prior to Thursday).
“Experience speaks for something, but it’s more like, ‘Can you play here or not?’ I know Sandy can for sure and I’m trying to show everyone I can as well.”
POINT SHOTS
We couldn’t help but notice that Lightning coach Jon Cooper , during his morning availability with reporters, didn’t carry himself with the same level of cockiness he has demonstrated in the past. Let’s go out on a limb: Getting swept in the first round of the playoffs after posting a 128-point regular season, which happened to the Lightning against the Columbus Blue Jackets, can knock a coach down a peg or two. “I would be lying if I didn’t think there’s a burden being carried over,” Cooper said of the stunning exit last spring. “But as we have talked to the players about, you can’t change last year. We’re defending nothing, so let’s go and attack.” … How has technology changed since Babcock’s first season as an NHL coach, 2002-03 with the Anaheim Ducks? “When I started in the league, we had one computer for the whole staff,” Babcock said. Now, among other steps of innovation, the Leafs players have iPads at their dressing-room stalls, with every bit of information the coaching staff has deemed relevant at their fingertips.
KOSHAN’S FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED
Not so fast: The Leafs actually finished with more shot attempts in 51 minutes 52 seconds of five-on-five play, with 53 to the Lightning’s 47. That meant little in a game in which the Leafs were out-battled throughout.
Holl of a night: One of the few players who could hold his head a bit higher was defenceman Justin Holl. In 15 minutes 28 seconds of total ice time, Holl was on the ice for two goals for and none against and generally played a smart game.
Struggling pair: Singling out any Leafs for a tough night on the job might seem a tad unfair given the overall effort, but the pair of Tyson Barrie and Jake Muzzin had its hands full, as it was on the ice for 14 of Tampa’s 26 shots during five-on-five.
More from Matthews: Not only did Auston Matthews score again and record his first assist of the season when he set up Andreas Johnsson, he finished with 10 shot attempts, the most on either side.
Cirelli smart: Mitch Marner’s training pal later this past summer, Lightning centre Anthony Cirelli, had a quietly effective night, recording three assists and three takeaways.
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