DENVER – In light of all the conjecture and commentary that has accompanied the ups and downs of the Toronto Maple Leafs this season, we present one vital statistic: The team is now 23-6-3 when Phil Kessel records at least a point.
Viewed another way, Toronto has won just four games this year when its top sniper is held off the scoresheet. Given that fact, it is clearly no coincidence that a six-game win streak – the first for the organization in more than eight years – arrived with Kessel in the midst of seven straight games with a point.
Phil the Thrill is flying these days and the Leafs have started piling up wins in his wake. A perfect example of his impact came during a sluggish start against Colorado that was erased in a heartbeat on Tuesday night when Kessel darted up ice. Dion Phaneuf spotted him on the move and banked a pass off the end boards from 180 feet away and the winger made no mistake.
That made it 1-0 for Toronto on another evening where it wouldn’t end up trailing at all.
“He’s got that explosive speed,” Phaneuf said after a 5-2 victory over the Avalanche. “I couldn’t get it to him up the middle – the (defenceman) was there – so I thought I’d try and bank it. Luckily it bounced to him.
“It was a great play by him. He recognized what I was doing.”
Kessel added a second goal shortly after former teammate J.S. Giguere replaced Semyon Varlamov in the Avalanche net and had several golden opportunities to finish off the hat trick. He finished with a season-high eight shots on goal and now has 14 points during his current points streak – matching the best previous seven-game stretch of his NHL career.
“I could have had a bunch tonight,” said Kessel.
What should be noted is that when the Leafs struggled through consecutive blowout losses to the Rangers, Islanders and Hurricanes earlier this month No. 81 was nowhere to be found.
That isn’t to suggest that those defeats, which came by a combined score of 18-5, were all on his shoulders. Not even close. But the Leafs are like most middle-of-the-pack teams in that they rely heavily on their top offensive players and goaltending to eke out victories.
That has shown through over the last two weeks.
As Kessel and linemates Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk have gone, so have the Leafs. Ditto for goaltenders Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer, who turned aside 35 shots against Colorado to pick up his 10th victory of the season.
“Obviously when you go through losses like we have it was a tough stretch, but we stayed positive and we fought our way out of it,” said Kessel. “We’re on a pretty good roll right now.”
It has been a satisfying stretch for coach Randy Carlyle – not only because the winning streak has clearly eased some of the pressure on his group, but also because he’s seen evidence that Kessel is currently willing to play more of a two-way game that has been discussed during “numerous conversations” with the coaching staff.
The right-winger’s ice time has recently been on the rise. Consider that Kessel played a total of 42 minutes 27 seconds in a little over 24 hours between Monday’s game in Phoenix and Tuesday’s game at lung-burning altitude in Denver.
“Now it’s an issue where we can trust him late in the game and along the wall and those things,” said Carlyle. “(He’s) more of a complete hockey player … and that’s a tribute to him.”
He’s also back among the top offensive players in the entire league. The recent scoring surge has vaulted Kessel into seventh place overall with 52 points and put him on pace for a career-high 41 goals.
Of course, one thing the Leafs will have to prepare for is the inevitable cold stretch that is certain to hit at some point over the remaining 30 games. There is nobody who would expect Kessel’s current trend to continue indefinitely.
With that in mind, the victory over the Avalanche provided more evidence that others might be able to help fill some of the void when Kessel slows down. Second-line centre Nazem Kadri scored for the second straight night – and picked up a point in a fourth consecutive game – to further prove that he’s moved beyond a scoring drought.
Meanwhile, van Riemsdyk scored his 20th goal of the year with one of his patented tips in front while Phaneuf, Cody Franson and Jake Gardiner all picked up assists to continue a trend of the Leafs getting offensive help from the blueline. That is something Carlyle has been waiting to see.
“We’re a hockey club that has to transition the puck and transition it quickly,” said Carlyle. “If we do that, then we can be effective. Tonight was one of those nights where it worked for us.”
The team flew to Dallas following the game and the coach planned to let his players “kick back” on Wednesday before facing the Stars the following the night. Toronto’s four-game road trip will finish up at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg on Saturday night.
Now six points clear of Ottawa in the Eastern Conference’s wild card race, the Leafs plan to try and grind out more victories before returning home.
“Wins on the road aren’t pretty,” said Carlyle. “Not a lot of them are very artistic. You’ve got to find ways to gain points and that’s all we’re trying to do with this group – trying to grab points along the way and see where we end up.”
It says here that they’ll only go as far as Kessel will take them.