Blending Lines
One of the bigger challenges coming into this homestand was the coaching staff needing to juggle lineups with injuries and a roster-wide illness affecting both player availability and energy levels if they did play. Post-game Dave Hakstol answered a question about forwards adjusting to the lineup switches, especially who would center between Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen with Yanni Gourde out. But another question identified and addressed by Hakstol and his coaches who goes out against Toronto’s top line with NHL goals leader Auston Matthews.
“We kind of kept changing them throughout the game,” Hakstol fully admitted about forward line combos except for letting the Jared McCann stay together as a productive unit once again. “The McCann line [with Jordan Eberle and Tomas Tatar on the wings] has been pretty good and has generated [scoring chances] over the last few games. So that that line remained consistent.
“We made some switches throughout with Wenny [Alex Wenberg} and Eeli playing against Matthews the whole night. We flipped Turbo [Brendan Tanev] into that spot. That threesome did a pretty good job against the 34 line. It's a load to play against every single shift ... as we got into the third period, we had probably four or five shifts where we changed [combinations on the fly] ... once we had Schwartzy [Jaden Schwartz] Ollie [Bjorkstrand] and Burky [Andre Burakovsky] out there, right? so just able to play on the fly and one of those three would play down low [with none of them true centers].”
No Déjà vu for Leafs
Toronto fell behind 3-0 after the first period during what turned into a 6-3 loss at Vancouver Saturday. On Sunday, the visiting Maple Leafs played like a squad that didn’t want that to happen again and the Kraken responded as the team figured as much.
The result was a handful of Grade-A chances for each team with both goalies making big stops, especially Toronto's former No. 1 turned backup Ilya Samsonov twice holding off both Jared McCann (booming shots) and Jaden Schwartz (one net front that had to be partially smothered by a Leafs defenseman before Samsonov could get enough of the puck to barely keep Seattle scoreless.)
Tomas Tatar hitting a post mid-period helped Samasonov keep a clean sheet with six saves, including four Kraken Grade-A chances, per Natural Stat Trick. Daccord faced eight shots on goal but couldn’t corral one of them, a net-front deke and backhand by star scorer Auston Matthews seven minutes into this first of a four-game homestand. That’s a league-high 38 goals for Matthews, who had room to operate after a pass from linemate Mitch Marner.
The bottom-six forwards took to the scoring spotlight early second period. Third-liners Max Domi (with a centering pass) and Nick Robertson (quick-release shot near-net) made it 2-0 in what could be described as a family affair. Domi’s father, Tie, played for Toronto and probably would have been looking to fight Brandon Tanev, too, after the Kraken fan favorite got into not one but two scraps to the capacity crowd’s decibel delight. Robertson’s older brother, Jason, is a proven goal scorer who has topped 40 goals each of the last two seasons. Little brother’s goal is his seventh of the season. The two Filipino-American brothers are just the third and fourth players of Filipino descent to play in the NHL. Arizona’s Matt Dumba and former NHL center Tim Stapleton are the others.
Tanev Tantalizes
Just more than two minutes into this contest, Brandon Tanev took exception to a hit from Maple Leafs defenseman Conor Timmins, who was subsequently whistled off for cross-checking. Tanev immediately bounced up to challenge the hit and Timmins’ D-partner Simon Benoit obliged by trading punches with the Kraken fan favorite. Big roars from the Climate Pledge Arena assemblage. Both players went off for two-minute minors for roughing.
During Tanev’s shift, Toronto forward d Tyler Bertuzzi was looking to mix it up. But it was settled by the officials. No worries, Tanev later period squared off with veteran Leafs D-man Jake McCabe for more fists thrown and a long, pretty much airplane-loud ovation for Tanev on his way to a five-minute stay for fighting in the penalty box, same for McCabe.
