(Toronto) On the one hand, the Maple Leafs counted on all their big guns on offense, from Auston Matthews to John Tavares, including Mitch Marner. On the other hand, the Canadian arrived in the Queen City deprived of Mike Matheson and Kaiden Guhle, potentially his first two defenders this season.
Of all the post-match scenes one could imagine, the one where a smiling Mattias Norlinder came to address the media was way down the list of possibilities.
But now, as the Leafs reserves did this weekend at the Bell Centre, the Canadiens players caused a surprise Monday evening, beating Toronto 5-4 in overtime.
And it appears that Norlinder, employed in a relatively important role, had a say in this victory. The Swede scored the first goal of the match, but, above all, the trio he faced the most was that of Matthews. Unit which ultimately did not score at 5 against 5.
Norlinder was smiling, then. “It’s from last year. I got used to the rink, the guys, the environment, all the new things when you come from Europe. I build my confidence on that,” he summed up.
Preceded by a strong reputation whose origins cannot be explained, this Norlinder disappeared from the radar screens last year, in his first full season in Laval. Here he reappears during this preparatory calendar. Favorable circumstances work in his favor, mainly Matheson’s injury. In the absence of the flying redhead, Norlinder was entrusted with the first power play unit.
And on Monday, in the absence of Guhle, he formed a tandem with David Savard. “Off the ice, he’s fun to be around, he makes it easier for us Europeans to adapt. And on the ice, he talks a lot, so he makes our work easier. He did it with Guhle too,” Norlinder believes.
Martin St-Louis said he was happy with number 59. “I liked how he played. He played with a lot of swagger, confidence, good touches with the puck. He is a very intelligent player. »
Norlinder is one more example contributing to this strange 2023 CH camp. Strange because all the new faces that were impatiently awaited ultimately did not have the desired effect. The stories are elsewhere.
Up front, Owen Beck and Joshua Roy sparked intrigue after shining in the 2022 camp. They ultimately didn’t survive the first massive wave of cutbacks, although Roy had some very good moments.
Emil Heineman arrived with a real chance of causing a surprise, he who had left a nice business card last year. But he seems to constantly take one step back for every step forward. On Monday, he made some important defensive plays in addition to pushing veteran T.J. Brodie, but he also committed the turnover that led to a Leafs goal. His 11 minutes on the ice Monday speak volumes about his place on the chessboard.
In defense, the arrival of David Reinbacher was anticipated, and even if the young man did well, Kent Hughes did not prolong the suspense. Logan Mailloux is sometimes impressive to watch, but the signs of youth in his game are obvious.
Rafael Harvey-Pinard is one of them. His line with Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky has remained intact since the start of the preparatory games. No one was sure what role to predict for little number 49; the metaphor of the Swiss army knife, used by St-Louis on the set of Tout le monde en parole, is a good reminder that Harvey-Pinard could be called upon to change roles often this season. But by playing with Dach, he demonstrates that he can do the job very well in a second line if necessary.
“We have a lot of options,” recalled St-Louis after the match. Sometimes, it will depend on the opponent, how the trios are built. We have depth and we have options. I’m not saying we’re going to deal with this on a daily basis, but I would be very surprised if the day 1 trios stay like this all year. »
Johnathan Kovacevic is another who, discreetly, continues to assert himself. His record of -1 on Monday is also very unrewarding; he was on the ice for the very bad goal allowed by Jake Allen in the first period, and for the rather lucky one from Max Domi.
“He’s an underestimated guy from the outside, but from the inside we know what we have and we’re happy. He is very intelligent and he must continue to work on his strengths to do what his brain tells him,” St-Louis illustrated.
So there are winners at this camp, even if they are not the ones we necessarily expect. It now remains to be seen when Tanner Pearson, Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson and Jake Evans will get going.
Few are complaining about the fact that the Canadian reduced his preparatory schedule by two games this fall, offering only six games, compared to eight last year. But if there are anyone for whom this decision is ungrateful, it is the goalkeepers. After the match, Jake Allen himself admitted that it was probably his last chance to show off before the season. So he only had two matches, one of which was incomplete, a total of 90 minutes of play; of the 41 shots he saw, 6 beat him. His efficiency rate of .854 is therefore thankless, although Allen did not help his cause granting a gift to the Leafs on the very first shot towards him, Monday. “I would have liked to see the first shot again, but overall I felt solid, I made some big saves, I was comfortable. I don’t have any more games to play, but in the year of COVID, we didn’t play any preparatory games, so I’m OK,” commented the veteran goalkeeper. We’re guessing that his service record will give him the benefit of the doubt, especially since Cayden Primeau hasn’t been dominant either, but a bad start to the season would certainly add a layer of intrigue to the situation in front of the net.
For several years, the Maple Leafs attack has revolved around the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner and John Tavares-William Nylander duos. However, Sheldon Keefe tried an experiment at this camp, by separating Tavares and Nylander, and transferring the latter to the center. However, Marner played 20 minutes per game on average last year, Nylander played 18 and Tavares, 17. We understand here that the fourth center, David Kämpf on Monday, could find himself with a very modest playing time some evenings. That’s especially true since Keefe set out to add the penalty kill to Matthews’ list of duties, a role that number 34 never filled. The Habs players were able to see up close the danger that a Matthews-Marner duo could pose four against five. The two sidekicks took advantage of the nonchalance of Logan Mailloux and Juraj Slafkovsky to threaten Allen in the second period. The Toronto tandem could give opponents headaches this season…
Injuries are always a risk in training camp and the Canadian is no exception. Monday morning, before the Habs headed to Toronto, the team announced that forwards Joel Armia and Alex Newhook, as well as defenseman Gustav Lindström, were injured in the upper body. No further details have been released. Armia and Lindström were in uniform on Friday, while Newhook played in Saturday’s game. The duration of their absence remains unknown, but the situation will be monitored, because if players start the campaign on the injured list, Kent Hughes will necessarily have fewer players to submit to waivers, at least at the start of the season. These three injuries also remind us that the Canadian’s new medical team did not arrive with a magic wand. Fragile players, like Armia, remain visibly at risk.
He finished the match with two passes, including a magical one to Kirby Dach to set up CH’s second goal. He has also won 81% of his faceoffs. He has four points in three games. The veteran is ready.
Some good defensive plays, but in the opposing zone, he was hardly visible.
This is the usage time of Jordan Harris, the most used player in the Montreal camp. A skilled skater, he was even designated to start overtime. Great marks of trust.
