TORONTO — At this stage of Tyler Ennis’s career, he’s a “we” before “me” guy.
You won’t find him scrutinizing the distribution of minutes at the end of the night or sulking after sitting all but two shifts in the third period. He was grateful for the opportunity to get healthy under a first-rate training staff this summer and is accepting of whatever role comes his way with the Toronto Maple Leafs because of it.
“We’re such a deep team that you can’t have everybody play 16 or 17 [minutes] a night,” said Ennis.
His has an upbeat attitude that goes a long way inside the dressing room. Even a team brimming with stars can appreciate the selfless underdog.
It helps explain why there were so many Leafs eager to praise Ennis for scoring the goal that got a 4-2 comeback victory started against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.
“Hell of a shift,” said John Tavares. “A few good shifts in a row and really deserved that one.”
“He’s got a lot of skill,” added Mitchell Marner. “He is very good at making time and space for himself and making plays. It’s been a lot of fun playing with him in this locker room and he just keeps getting better and better.”
The goal Ennis scored certainly shifted the tide with the Leafs battling heavy legs in their return home from a long road trip through California. They’d dug a 2-0 hole to Columbus and weren’t up to very much before he skated behind the net, shook off checker Brandon Dubinsky with a 180-degree turn and passed the puck to himself off the end boards.
Then Ennis circled to the side of the net and fired a shot under Sergei Bobrovsky’s left pad at 13:01 of the second period. Finally, a little life.
“Hell of a play by Tyler to create some space,” said Tavares. “Used his edges and just really silky with the play he made to put it in.”
The big boys took it home from there, with Marner finding Tavares for the tying goal after turning defenceman Scott Harrington inside-out and linemate Zach Hyman tipping home the winner on a set piece off a third-period faceoff.
Hyman also hit the empty net while Frederik Andersen slammed the door shut with 37 saves.
Meanwhile, the fourth line watched most of it from the bench. Ennis, Frederik Gauthier and Josh Leivo saw just three shifts over the final 27 minutes of a tightly contested game that featured no penalties — able, at least, to feel happy with their contribution to the 15th win of this young season.
“I’m happy to score one tonight,” said Ennis. “I hit a post before that, too. I could have a lot more goals than I have right now. I just have to keep sticking with it and they’ll start going in.”
In a parallel universe, he might not even be playing.
Were Auston Matthews healthy and William Nylander signed, two-thirds of Toronto’s bottom line wouldn’t even be dressed.
Ennis is trying to turn virtually nothing into something. He’s playing the fewest minutes of his NHL career and has still found a way to stand out this last little stretch. He missed a Grade A chance in Anaheim on Friday and blasted a shot off the right post behind Bobrovsky before eventually breaking through with his third goal of the season on Monday.
The Leafs have enjoyed an 80-64 advantage in scoring chances and 30-23 edge in high-danger scoring chances with him on the ice this season, per naturalstattrick.com.
[relatedlinks]
“Just getting more confidence each game,” said Ennis. “I think I could have six or seven goals. I’ve been getting unlucky — I’ve had a lot of good looks, a lot of posts, a lot of crossbars, a lot of chances — so they’re going to go. I think it’s a little bit like [Nazem Kadri]. Nazzy was having a tough time finding the net and then they started going in for him.
“You’ve just got to continue to get the chances. I think we’ve been generating and I think the more comfortable I am the easier it becomes to score.”
Ennis is back in a good headspace after dealing with multiple concussions and a double sports hernia surgery in recent years. He was bought out by the Minnesota Wild at the outset of the summer before signing a league-minimum contract with the Leafs.
Even in limited minutes, he feels like he can chip in. The fourth line has grown more comfortable with what needs to be done to create offensive looks.
“Just continue to play simple. Leivs is really good down low and he can steal pucks, get pucks back and then we go to work,” said Ennis. “It’s just kind of coming up with that recipe and building that chemistry and playing with confidence and having fun.”
The expectations will continue to be modest — Ennis is averaging 10:49 per night, with the help of some time on the second power-play unit — but the Leafs will take whatever they can get from a low-risk reclamation project.
He’s clearly won his teammates over already.
“I think he’s a real good person. We like him,” said Babcock. “It’s always nice when a guy like that gets goals. … As his confidence comes back, he’ll start to score a little bit. That’s good for him.”
Good for the group, too.
