Coyotes prepare for first clash with Auston Matthews
TORONTO -- After being taken with the first pick in the2016 draft, Toronto rookie Auston Matthews is always a center of attention in Maple Leafs' games.
But the focus is on Matthews even more so on Thursday night as Toronto hosts the Arizona Coyotes.
Matthews, who leads the Maple Leafs with 13 goals and 22 points, is from Scottsdale and grew up going to Coyotes' games and dreaming of playing for them. This will be the first time that he has played against them.
"I'm really looking forward to it," Matthews said Wednesday. "It's fun to play your hometown team. It will be cool after watching guys like (Shane) Doan growing up. He's still playing. That will be pretty special."
The game is the third in a four-game road trip for the Coyotes and can be seen on FOX Sports Arizona Plus and FOX Sports GO, starting at 5 p.m.
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While the Coyotes and their fans will be keeping a close eye on Matthews, the Maple Leafs and their fans will be watching the newest member of the Coyotes with interest.
Until a few days ago, Peter Holland played for the Maple Leafs -- though hardly played might be a better description. The center was traded to the Arizona Coyotes on Friday for a conditional pick in the 2018 draft and played his first game for his new team on Tuesday night in Detroit.
While the Maple Leafs were blowing a two-goal third-period lead on the way to a 3-2 shootout loss to the San Jose Sharks, Holland had two assists in the Coyotes' 4-1 victory over the Red Wings.
Holland had one assist in eight games for the Maple Leafs this season. He had played in only two games for them since the start of November.
"I haven't been in a match in about a month and been practicing with just a few guys on the ice during my time in Toronto," Holland said before Tuesday's game. "So it's going to take me a little bit to get my timing back and feet under me. But, hopefully, it comes back quicker than I think."
"Peter gives us that steady center that we've needed since (Brad) Richardson got hurt," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said after Tuesday's win. "He didn't look like a guy playing his first game for a team."
Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock was asked about Holland by Toronto reporters on Wednesday.
"Well, it's good for him," Babcock said. "Holly was a good player for us, did lots of good things, it just didn't work here for him. There's lots of players in the league, when you look at it, who are in a situation, and they go somewhere else and they get a new opportunity.
"You want everyone to do well, period. If it's not working here, and they're not finding a way to help themselves, or grow as a player, or to help you, it's important that they move on. When they move on, you're not cheering against them at all, you're cheering that they do well, except when they play you."
The Coyotes (10-14-5) will be hoping to build off Tuesday's performance after a miserable showing in the first game of the road trip -- a 7-0 loss to Pittsburgh on Monday night. The trip finishes up Saturday with a day game at Minnesota.
"We did a lot of the things that it takes to win hockey games," said goaltender Mike Smith after Tuesday's win. "The offense took its chances and everyone made plays. We knew what happened (Monday) night, and no one wanted to see that again. We're a better team than that."
Arizona is 10-1-1 in its last 12 games against Toronto, including wins in their last four. When playing in Toronto, the last time they failed to secure at least one point was Oct. 17, 2002.
The Coyotes will continue to be without Max Domi, who is out indefinitely after hand surgery Monday, and defenseman Connor Murphy, who suffered an upper body injury Saturday.
The Maple Leafs (11-11-6) have only one win in their past six games and once again Tuesday showed that they have problems closing games out. They were in command before the Sharks struck with goals of 12:43 and 14:50 of the third and then lost in the shootout.
Babcock talked about the necessity of keeping the pressure on the other team when on the lead. He talked about "activities" around each goal as an example.
"I've got it written down right here," he said. "In the third, we had six (activities) around their net. They had 12 around ours. Any way you look at it that means you're being a little more careful. Tight and tentative never got you anywhere in life.
"When you get in your car, normally what you do is you don't put one foot on the brake and one foot on the gas. The long skinny one on the right -- you just push it down and the car goes better."
