If ever there was a time for Jake Gardiner to shine, this was it.
The Maple Leafs No. 1 defenceman, Morgan Rielly, was down in pain on the ice. He tried in vain to return to the game but was lost for the night. It was the first period, his team was down 2-0 heading into the second, and Gardiner was going to have to put in the longest night of his career as one of the two remaining left defencemen.
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By the end of the night, that added up to 29 minutes, 24 seconds – essentially half the game.
The Leafs won, in large part because of how well Gardiner filled that role. He had to be a chameleon of sorts, too, playing 12 minutes with Nikita Zaitsev, 9.5 minutes with usual partner Connor Carrick, another five with Roman Polak and even three with Matt Hunwick.
He played with everyone. He did pretty much everything, including kill penalties.
“He was huge,” was the review from Auston Matthews.
And he didn’t even feel the heavy workload afterward.
“I think 25 [minutes], in that range, you’re pretty worn out after the game, I guess,” Gardiner said of how playing more affects him. “When you play 19, you’re not totally drained. I don’t feel terribly tired. But I think it depends on the game. You play 29 minutes – but that could be all offensive zone.”
A lot of it was on Tuesday. Using possession metrics, Gardiner was at 60 per cent at even strength on the night, one of the top marks on the team.
That has been his strength for years – and the Leafs will certainly need it to continue if Rielly misses much time.
The early word – and I’ll stress that these things are fluid – is that Rielly’s injury is not that serious (read: season ending). It’s not believed to be his knee. The fact he missed the second and third periods was apparently more the Leafs being careful than the result of a devastating break or tear.
That’s the good news.
That doesn’t mean that Rielly won’t miss games, however. He clearly struggled to play the one shift he took after he was hurt. A fuller diagnosis will be made on Wednesday, and there are a range of possibilities that could still be very difficult for the Leafs to manage. Something like a high ankle sprain could involve a recovery time spanning months, not weeks, for example.
“I don’t know if he’s out a week or 10 days or a month,” Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. “I don’t have a clue.”
Whether Rielly misses one game or 20, what’s clear is that a lot of players on Toronto’s back end are going to have to fill larger roles. Rielly was playing just shy of 23 minutes a game this season, putting him in the top 40 leaguewide, and the Leafs are already without Martin Marincin on the left side.If both remain out, it’s likely Toronto will have to recall someone from the Marlies – and almost all of the options there are inexperienced ones.
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It will mean more responsibility for Hunwick, who has played better of late but is best suited for third-pair duty. It will likely mean the most for Gardiner, who could see a stretch of games where 25-plus minutes is the norm.That said, the Leafs are actually better suited to handle Rielly’s absence than others. Who could step in and take Frederik Andersen’s spot, for example? Auston Matthews or Nazem Kadri going down would also create a glaring hole, given the lack or organizational depth at centre.
No Rielly for a stretch would hurt, no question. But Gardiner is playing at perhaps the highest level of his career. It’s plausible he can step in, play with Zaitsev, and further prove that he is an underrated asset in the organization.
“I thought Gardiner and Zaitsev were really great tonight,” Babcock said. “Stepped up.”
“My stats are better than they usually are, offensively,” Gardiner said, a reference to his 43-point pace, which would be a career high by a mile. “I think, more importantly, I feel like I’m more of an all-around player. Playing against tougher competition at times. My goal is to be more consistent.”
This, right now, feels like the most Gardiner has been valued in the organization since it acquired him six years ago. Former coach Ron Wilson loved his game as a rookie, but Randy Carlyle was never a fan and that rocky relationship seemed to eat at the young defenceman.
He doubted his game.
Now he doesn’t – and the results are in plays like the little bank off the boards pass he made to himself early in Tuesday’s game.
Babcock can see something in Gardiner that Carlyle couldn’t. He sees a new-age defenceman who excels when he skates with the puck and who, when the glaring turnovers are pulled from his game, can be a difference maker on a second pair.
Now, potentially, we get to see if he can do it on the first.
The answer might surprise people.