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Maple Leafs and Jets know what’s ahead; turn up physical play

April 24, 2021, 10:45 AM ET [141 Comments]
Anthony Travalgia
Winnipeg Jets Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
If the Toronto Maple Leafs or Winnipeg Jets have plans of getting out of the north division in the playoffs and landing as one of NHL’s final four, they’ll likely have to do so by beating the other.

I know it, you know it and certainly, they know it. It’s partially why Thursday’s contest between the two top teams in the division was as physical as its been all season long.

The two meet again Saturday in Winnipeg.

If you’re into physical, tough hockey—old time hockey we can call it, and Thursday’s loss to the Leafs was any indication of where things are heading Saturday, you’re in for a treat.

Jets center Adam Lowry left Thursday’s contest after taking a hit to the head from Alex Galchenyuk. No penalty was called on the play.

Shortly thereafter, Mathieu Perreault took a Joe Thornton stick to the head, a play that Thornton was penalized for and then eventually fined $3,017.24 for.

And then there was Nick Foligno's borderline hit on Josh Morrissey that sent him into the boards. A play that caused Pierre-Luc Dobois to take a run at Foligno.

Oh, and let’s not forget that just last week Zach Hyman was fined for a slash on Neal Pionk in the Jets win.

So who gets fined Saturday night?

Even with all of that, Jets head coach Paul Maurice wouldn’t go as far as labeling the Maple Leafs a dirty team.

But I’ll let you read between the lines here and make your own judgement.

"I don't think so, I don’t feel that. The league has said they're not so we will abide by the league's rulings,” he said. “But they're a poorer team, right? There's some fines. Probably they'll be looking for some part-time jobs now, because that's gotta hurt."

Ask the Maple Leafs and they’ll tell you the Jets are no angels themselves.

Leafs' forward Wayne Simmonds has a pretty interesting thought on that.

“Every time we've played them they've tried to come and run us out of the building to start the games. We come back and we're physical and now we're a dirty team?” said Simmonds. “I don't buy that. I just think we’re defending ourselves. We're playing the game physical and it’s playoff hockey."

Simmonds wasn’t happy with Dubois, receiving a penalty for roughing after Dubois fell onto Leafs’ goalie Jack Campbell.

"I'm sick of guys jumping on our goalie and being allowed to spear our goalie after plays and stuff like that and the refs not calling it,” said Simmonds. “So that was my [thought] process there.”

The Maple Leafs brought in players like Thornton and Simmonds to turn the toughness up and play a style of hockey that the Maple Leafs have missed year-after-year and early playoff exit after early playoff exit.

With the playoffs less than a month away, they’ve done their job. So far, at least.

"They're a team that competes extremely hard. Yes, they have talent, but their compete level is at a high level,” said Dubois. “You're not just facing a talented team, you're facing a team that can play hard, too."

It’s a physical game and one between two teams who know what’s up for grabs in a competitive division. Playoffs are just around the corner and now is the time to send messages to teams you’re—hopefully—going to see at the end of May.

But with that all being said, there’s a difference between sending a message by being physical, and being flat out dirty with hits to the head.

One wrong elbow, or one wrong hit from behind could alter someones career, heck their life.

“If you try to get rid of it completely, that would be the way to go. There’s no place for it in the game,” Perreault said of hits to the head.

“When I go to hit a guy, I always make sure I don’t get the head. It’s the one thing I always think about when I go for a hit. If you do it that way then, yeah, you would eventually get rid of all of it, for sure.”

From the hits, the lack of penalties called and the score itself, the Jets were not happy with how things went on Thursday.

Expect a different team on Saturday.
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