Maple Leafs-2

11/21/2024 12:47 AM

TORONTO — The advice the Toronto Maple Leafs shared with Nikita Grebenkin ahead of his NHL debut was as simple and direct as a Craig Berube pep talk.

"Team speak me: Backcheck, forecheck, and paycheque," Grebenkin revealed, following a 3-0 blue-collar victory over the mighty Vegas Golden Knights.

Then the Russian rookie — hockey flow exploding out the brim of his club-issued ballcap spun backwards — unleashed a contagious, cackly laugh through his missing tooth.

For young Maple Leafs these days, life is good. Laughs come easy. Opportunity abounds. And it doesn't matter much if Auston Matthews is jetting off to Munich or Mars.

Not as long as the coach's hard-checking system is adhered to, the called-up Marlies and remaining all-stars fill the void, and the wins — now 6-1 since the captain hit injured reserve — keep stacking like AHL callups.

To be clear: John Tavares, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander were all superb, again, in Wednesday's grinding, patient, persistent victory. Veteran shutdown pair Chris Tanev and Jake McCabe were typically excellent. And Joseph Woll pitched a 31-save shutout.

But it's the injection of fresh blood into the middle of a depleted lineup that gave this win a different flavour.

Fraser Minten — called up after just a handful of Marlies appearances due to a David Kämpf injury — slid in seamlessly centring the Leafs' frequently vanilla third line. He got bumped to the top line when Tavares took offsetting roughing penalties, and was pitching in on the penalty kill and top power-play unit by night's end.

Berube was right to trust the heady 20-year-old prospect, as Minten was not only sharp enough to spot a lane for his first NHL goal but also break down his thought process on getting that framed puck:

"It's a dream come true to be out here," Minten said, following a celebratory twirl as one of the contest's three stars. 

"It's hard to describe. It's years of hard work. It's for all my family members, my coaches, my friends over the years. It's so much more than me, and it feels amazing."

Minten took his pre-season high-ankle sprain in, uh, stride and simply focused on his rehab. Still sporting a bandage wrapped around his left foot, the pivot spoke about how he is "older, stronger, more mature" now than he was during his four-game stint in the show last fall.

It showed.

"It’s a little less, like, awe. It’s more like you can fit in and be effective," Minten reasoned.

Minten's wingman, Grebenkin, too, was effective — and not only at making his teammates and reporters laugh.

In love with the sport since age 7, when his parents stuffed skates on his feet, Grebenkin was cheered throughout his solo rookie lap and thanked his teammates, general manager, and the city of Toronto after 11 minutes of hard-checking, fearless hockey.

No, Grebenkin is not quite Matthew Tkachuk — the player he most admires — but over the course of one game day, he did deliver personality, quotes, nasty forechecks, and a couple scoring chances.

"He was a factor. You noticed him, and that’s great for your first game," Minten said. 

"It’s not easy. I mean, he’s just coming over from another country too, right? It’s different language, everything. So, he did amazing."

Woll said Grebenkin was the first Leaf to show up Wednesday morning, waltzing in all smiles.

"Most of the read on his personality has been from non-verbal cues," Woll chuckled. "I wish I knew more of what he's saying, because he’s so positive and so happy all the time. So, he’s a great person to add to the team. Great energy."

Bang. 

That's it. Energy.

Perhaps summoned by a rare three-day break or the urgency that comes with a worthy opponent or six missing forwards, the Maple Leafs brought a purposeful vigor to this midweeker.

"Resilient. Battled. Competed. It was a heavy game, as we thought," Berube said, proudly. "Vegas is a very good team. They don’t give you a lot. You got to play smart. So, I thought our guys played smart. It was a battle, though. We battled hard. Really hard."

It was Berube's Blues team, you'll recall, that edged Bruins-turned-Knights coach Bruce Cassidy’s Bruins in Game 7 of the 2019 Cup Final. And, going in, Cassidy knew he was scouting a different version of the Leafs.

"They're tighter defensively in front of their net, taking care of business. Probably a different animal than I'm used to seeing," Cassidy said pre-game. "I've seen lots of (Berube's) teams before, so we know they're going to play hard, they're going to play together."

That togetherness was on full display following Zach Whitecloud's controversial neutral-zone hit on Matthew Knies, who left the contest with an upper-body injury. (Whitecloud's hit went unpenalized after review, and no Leaf sounded off publicly in dispute.)

So what if scrappers Ryan Reaves and Max Domi weren't in the lineup? From Tavares to Oliver Ekman-Larsson to Conor Timmins, the Leafs mixed it up and hung tough.

They never shrunk or shied.

"Well, it’s not a good thing that he that he’s hurt, but it definitely sparks some energy with the team," Woll said. 

"Sometimes anger and those things can be used to drive you through a game. So, I was just happy to see us shut 'em down after something like that. I was pretty pissed after it, so I tried to try to harness that as well as I could."

Just as Minten and Grebenkin harnessed their opportunity.

"Team win, best moment," Grebenkin smiled, grinding through his post-game scrum in his second language. 

"I long time wait to NHL play."

Fox's Fast Five

• Golden Knights backup Ilya Samsonov had dinner with ol' Magnitogorsk pal Grebenkin and Ivan Barbashev Tuesday night in Toronto but, sadly, was stapled to the bench in his Toronto return.

Reflecting with reporters, Samsonov said he had a great two seasons with the Leafs, whom he backstopped to their only playoff series win in the past 20 years.

"Last year, it was tough, but I feel better right now, and I know how to work (through it) if you have some bad days. You don't worry about it anymore. You need to continue moving," Samsonov said, soaking up his one-game return.

"Pretty good, like I come home. Everybody's so friendly," he smiled. "We did not win the Stanley Cup, but we had a nice group. Good time."

Told that it was too bad he wasn't starting against the Leafs, an enthusiastic Samsonov wasn't having it. His sights were already on Ottawa Thursday: “No, no, no. Tomorrow! Against Ullmark. My guy!”

Bruin-turned-Senator Linus Ullmark, you may recall, slighted Samsonov during an off-season interview with "Leafs Morning Take."

"I was surprised they kept Samsonov for that many games against us in the playoffs. Because every time, I felt at least, when we played the Leafs and (Woll) was in net, it felt like it was more of a challenge," Ullmark said.

"Even though I'm not a player, just watching him, it looked like he was in so much more control of situations that was thrown at him."

• Nice touch having GM Michael "Pinball" Clemons and a few members of his champion Toronto Argonauts trot out the Grey Cup for a ceremonial faceoff. 

Even more delightful: One random Leafs fan hollering, "ARRRRR-Goooooos!" at the top of his lungs, breaking the silence during random regroups and dump-ins.

• Simon Benoit registered a game-high eight hits and was the first Leaf to jump Whitecloud to stick up for the injured Knies, taking a double roughing penalty for his efforts.

After a pair of healthy scratches, this was easily the best game of the new dad's season.

"He was excellent tonight," Berube raved. "More aggressive than he has been. Not only without the puck, being physical and closing out plays and doing that stuff, but I thought he skated with the puck well tonight, moved in the offensive zone, out of the D zone. He moved his feet and made plays, advanced and puck up the ice. Benny had a great game."

• Alex Pietrangelo captained Berube's 2019 Cup squad in St. Louis, so he couldn't hold back a sly smile when asked what to expect from the new-look Leafs.

"Pretty familiar with Berube-coached teams," Pietrangelo said. "You know they’re gonna come at us. You know they’re gonna play hard. If you know Chief, he expects you to work hard and demands a lot."

Best Berube tale?

"There’s a lot that I can’t say now. Some good stories. But honestly, I got nothing but respect for Chief. I mean, he made me a better player and made me a better leader and challenged me, day in and day out. And I’m better for it," Pietrangelo said.

"Challenged me to be the best way I could be. I mean, it’s a long season. There's gonna be games when you don't play so well, maybe don't have it. But it’s part of being a leader on the team. He pushed me to do my best every single day, and I’ll appreciate him for that."

• Is there a more divisive topic in Leafland than whether to re-sign the red-hot Marner in-season or wait to experience a ninth post-season with Toronto's core before committing?

With another two-assist night, Marner has five multi-point efforts during this six-game stretch without Matthews.

Sam McKee drops the near-perfect Twitter poll split: