Peter Laviolette breaks down what a coach expects when a superstar goes down: Leafs Morning Take
In one fell swoop, the Leafs jumped from 25th to 20th in the league.
The reality is that Toronto’s goaltending is simply too good for this team to finish in the bottom five.
On top of all that, the Leafs seem to do better without their star players, it doesn’t make sense.
That’s where the conversation started on the Monday edition of Leafs Morning Take as we discussed the fallout from the Radko Gudas hit on Auston Matthews. Toronto’s captain is done for the season after tests revealed he suffered a torn MCL along with a quad contusion. Meanwhile, Gudas was handed a five-game suspension for the hit. Many people — including Matthews’ agent Judd Moldaver — believe the punishment wasn’t nearly enough. Can you blame them?
At any rate, we spent a good deal of time talking about how Leafy that weekend was. No Matthews, no problem? It’s been a theme for the past decade, but weirdly, the Leafs tend to play better without their star players. It makes no sense. Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz were superb. In fact, they’re the biggest reason Toronto managed to grab three of a possible four points against Buffalo and Minnesota. Bo Groulx’s been a great story, too. The 26-year-old now has three goals in four outings since being recalled from the AHL. Additionally, we gave some love to Jake McCabe, who blocked a season-high nine shots on Sunday against the Wild. What a warrior. As expected, the Leafs brought the physicality, showing exactly what they’re capable of. If anything, it highlighted that they’re not playing consistently for their coach on a nightly basis.
After that, veteran NHL head coach Peter Laviolette dropped by to weigh in on the fallout from Gudas’s hit on Matthews. Laviolette shared what he expects from a team when a superstar goes down, offered insight into Craig Berube’s current situation, and reflected on lessons from his own recent coaching experiences — plus, he opened up about what he’s looking for in his next head coaching opportunity.
Looking forward to the Tuesday edition of Leafs Morning Take. We’ll preview Matthew Schaefer’s first game in Toronto as the Leafs host the Islanders. Also, free agent NHL head coach Dean Evason, who was let go from Columbus in January, will drop by the show to dish on the Maple Leafs.