New York Islanders farmhand Josh Ho-Sang doesn't think he was given a fair shake at cracking the big club out of camp this season.
Ho-Sang, who's been vocal about his lack of opportunity with the Islanders in the past, believes New York's new-look regime under Lou Lamoriello and Barry Trotz had its team predetermined in training camp.
"I felt like they had their minds made up on what was going to happen and what the team was going to look like," Ho-Sang told Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post. "It's OK. They had the whole summer to plan that. I don't know if you watched any of the games, but I didn't play a lot. It's OK. It is what it is."
Ho-Sang was drafted 28th overall by the Isles in 2014. While he possesses an NHL-level skill set, his commitment on both sides of the puck and actions off the ice have shaped his reputation as a player.
Even in the AHL, he's not sure he's being deployed properly.
"They tell me they want me to be a top-six forward up there, but I'm not a top-six forward down here, so it's confusing," he said. "Sometimes, it's like you're sprinting with a rubber band on. You constantly have tension. You run until you're exhausted and then the band is going to pull you back. If I was going to say anything, it would be: Just watch. I'm just pointing it out."
In nine games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers this season, Ho-Sang has recorded four assists. Over his NHL career, he's amassed 22 points in 43 contests.
Thornton has missed the last nine contests after experiencing swelling in his surgically-repaired right knee. He was on the ice for the club's first two games of the season, but then the veteran was placed on injured reserve.
Knee injuries have slowed the 39-year-old for much of the last year. Thornton sat out of the Sharks' final 35 games of the 2017-18 season and their playoff run after tearing the ACL and MCL in his right knee, nine months after suffering the same injury in his left knee.
Limited action has caused Thornton to collect just one assist so far in 2018-19, but he's inching toward two major career milestones. With five more games played and three more goals, he'll reach 1,500 and 400, respectively, for his career.
Sure, they're 8-4, good for top spot in the Atlantic Division, and they're averaging 3.5 goals per game, seventh in the NHL. Nonetheless, red flags have sprouted over the past five contests. The offense is beginning to sputter, producing goal totals of zero, one, four, three, and one. Monday's loss to the Calgary Flames - Toronto's first of many games without the injured Auston Matthews - might have been their worst performance of the season.
Courtesy of the Flames, St. Louis Blues, and Pittsburgh Penguins, consider this a guide to shutting down the high-octane Leafs at five-on-five, with a few play clips as examples of how each strategy worked.
Force dump-ins, break out with support
In a pregame chat with theScore, Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin described an ideal situation in which Calgary would close neutral-zone gaps, forcing Toronto attackers to dump the puck.
"You don't want to give them the blue line,” he explained. “You don't want them to be able to come over the blue line and make a play. You want to be tight on them, so ... they're chipping pucks in and we can start our breakout."
Mike Smith, the NHL's top puckhandling goalie, is the X-factor for Calgary's breakouts. If he keeps his puck retrievals simple and completes the first pass consistently, the Flames are in business.
And business was good Monday night, as variations of the above sequence played out a handful of times over the course of the Flames' 3-1 victory.
A Leafs player feeling the pressure of a tight gap dumps the puck in; Smith intercepts the curling puck and finds a defenseman idling in a safe spot; the defenseman shuffles the puck to a well-positioned forward; the forward hits a teammate heading north.
Here's another example of a successful zone exit. This time, Calgary opted for an overhead toss that spanned the entire neutral zone - ironically, a move the Leafs pull off regularly when they're humming - and it led to a scoring chance.
Whether it was the top line centered by John Tavares or the rarely used Frederik Gauthier trio, the Leafs were outplayed for about 55 minutes by the Bill Peters-coached squad. They turned the puck over far too often, and when they didn't, they struggled to get a shot through to the net. As Toronto coach Mike Babcock put it, the Flames "sailed out of their zone and beat us up the ice," playing with structure.
"I thought we did a good job keeping the gaps (small)," Flames center Mikael Backlund said. "And when they did get into our zone, I don't think they came with enough bodies. It was usually just one or two guys. It was easy for us to break the puck out."
Protect the house
At last Saturday's morning skate, St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko talked about the importance of limiting the Leafs' access to the middle of the ice.
"It's going to be a game of making sure we're on top of them, making sure we make it tough on them to generate chances," the towering defenseman told theScore. "If we're over top of them and don't let them generate speed and generate opportunities, it's going to be helpful because they seem to always find ways to make things happen."
The outcome of effectively deploying this strategy? A 4-1 Hockey Night in Canada win for the Blues, who guided the Leafs into low-percentage areas throughout the game. Toronto only recorded seven five-on-five shot attempts from the slot/net-front area, and just three came off the stick of a top-six forward (an attempt each from Matthews, Tavares, and Kasperi Kapanen).
Check out this Jake Gardiner point shot from the closing minutes of the first period:
Because one-timed slap shots are aesthetically pleasing and there's some chaos brewing within the frame, Gardiner’s shot looks like a quality chance. Zero in on the details, however, and it's actually nothing special.
Parayko's work on Zach Hyman is critical; his body positioning and active stick keep the feisty winger on the perimeter and prevent him from getting a firm handle on the puck. Disrupted and pressured, Hyman guesses on a pass to the slot, which misses Tavares and ends up in Gardiner's wheelhouse. However, the shot is relatively harmless - it's about 50 feet from the net, goalie Jake Allen is unscreened, and the Leafs aren't well-positioned to capitalize on a rebound, Tavares having been dumped on his way to the goalmouth.
The Maple Leafs have been excellent overall at occupying prime scoring areas, generating 13.4 high-danger shot attempts per hour through 12 games - the fifth-highest rate in the league entering play Tuesday. Before facing the Flames, Toronto owned the third-closest average shot distance (all situations) at 32.4 feet.
The Blues seemed well aware of this early-season trend and adjusted accordingly.
"You have to protect the middle of the ice and let them make their seam passes and expose guys," St. Louis center Ryan O’Reilly said. "We were just committed to it, we were prepared, and we knew what they can do."
Disrupt and attack in the neutral zone
Of course, having Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby to offset Matthews and Tavares was extremely beneficial for the Penguins, but coach Mike Sullivan challenged his squad to both engage physically and protect their blue line.
"The best game plan for us is to get our offense from defending," Pittsburgh rearguard Jack Johnson said hours before puck drop. "I don't think we want to get into a 10-9 game … It's about being committed to being hard to play against."
The Leafs' willingness to attempt stretch passes has been well-documented. It's kind of their thing. The Penguins tasked themselves with flipping the script by not overcommitting on offense and putting themselves in a favorable position to pressure the Leafs into making quick decisions in transition.
Here, Kapanen is forced off the puck by Riley Sheahan. Matt Cullen eventually scoops up the debris and hits the streaking center. At the Leafs' blue line, Sheahan feeds Jamie Oleksiak, who lobs the puck on net. The rebound is pushed all the way to the top of the left circle, where Cullen fires a quick wrister at Leafs goalie Frederik Andersen.
The Penguins didn’t convert on that particular play. They did, however, reverse the course of a potentially dangerous neutral zone wind-up by puck pursuers Kapanen and Matthews, as well as a trailing Patrick Marleau.
Below, Tavares is poke-checked at the red line. The Penguins gain possession, regroup with poise, and enter the Leafs' zone with the puck. Easy peasy.
Taking away opponents' time and space is a common concept at all levels of hockey. Yet it's not always realistic, especially against a Leafs team that feeds off quick strikes.
"We tried to play as much as we could in the O zone," Penguins winger Bryan Rust reflected following the 3-0 win. "D-men were pinching, keeping pucks alive. I thought we were backchecking all night. I think it all helped."
Calgary, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh all benefited from solid goaltending, timely scoring, and maybe a little bit of luck in their triumphs over the Leafs. But so did the Ottawa Senators, the only other team to defeat Toronto. What sets the first three teams apart is a sense of control.
The Flames, Blues, and Penguins all developed game plans that, in slightly different ways, allowed them each to smother Toronto's skilled forwards and force the Leafs to defend. Not only did these teams reap the benefits, but they also showed the league that a goal-scoring giant can be cut down to size.
John Matisz is theScore's National Hockey Writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.
Darling suffered a hamstring injury during Carolina's final preseason game, and he was recalled from his AHL conditioning stint last week. In his absence, the Hurricanes have been rolling with the tandem of Curtis McElhinney and Petr Mrazek in net. The struggling duo has combined for a .882 save percentage in all situations, per Corisca, which ranks 26th in the NHL.
Despite the issues between the pipes, the Hurricanes are off to a 6-4-1 start on the strength of a dominant offense. The return of Darling could provide some consistency as the team looks to become a real threat in the Eastern Conference.
However, Darling still has a lot to prove while attempting to take over the reins and become Carolina's bonafide No. 1 goalie. In 2017-18, his first season of a four-year, $16 million contract, Darling won just 13 of 43 starts while managing a .888 save percentage.
Preseason prognosticators favored the likes of like Rasmus Dahlin and Andrei Svechnikov to claim 2018-19 Rookie of the Year honors, but it's a handful of early surprises who make up this month's edition of the Calder Trophy rankings:
5. Dennis Cholowski, Detroit Red Wings
Gregory Shamus / Getty Images Sport / Getty
A banged-up blue line has led to lots of early minutes for the Red Wings' young defense core, especially 2016 first-round pick Cholowski.
Averaging more than 22 minutes a night, Cholowski has been regularly called upon by coach Jeff Blashill and leads all Detroit defenders in ice time. While Cholowski's offensive contributions haven't resulted in many victories for the rebuilding Red Wings, he already has six points in eight games.
The challenge for Cholowski will be keeping up his strong play. Mike Green has already returned to the lineup and Danny DeKeyser's eventual activation from the injured reserve could chip away at the 20-year-old's usage.
4. Henri Jokiharju, Chicago Blackhawks
Kirk Irwin / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Long gone are the days when the Blackhawks' blue line was their strength. But the next wave is arriving and Finnish freshman Jokiharju is the main attraction.
The 19-year-old has become a favorite of bench boss Joel Quenneville - he's seeing nearly 21 minutes of action per game. That belief in Jokiharju has paid off on the scoreboard, as the rookie defender has already put up seven points in just 11 contests to lead all Chicago defensemen in scoring.
Perhaps most impressive is how quickly Jokiharju has adapted to the pro game. A first-round pick by the Blackhawks in 2017, he needed just one more year in junior before jumping into Chicago's lineup full time.
3. Max Comtois, Anaheim Ducks
Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Goals have been hard to come by in Anaheim, as key offensive contributors Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf have spent much, if not all, of the season on the shelf. The Ducks' playing style also has the team in its own end more often than not, so time around the opposing crease is seemingly a rarity.
Enter Comtois, the 2017 second-round pick who is picking up the scoring pace in the absence of the Ducks' top performers. Through 10 contests, Comtois has picked up two goals, including a game-winner, and five assists to sit tied for first in team scoring.
Comtois has now passed the 10-game entry-level-contract threshold, but his offensive production likely already ruled out any chance of a return to the QMJHL, anyway.
2. Max Lajoie, Ottawa Senators
Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photo / Getty Images Sport / Getty
While second-year defenseman Thomas Chabot is doing his part to help Senators fans forget about former captain Erik Karlsson, credit is also due to rookie rearguard Lajoie.
Lajoie has stepped into the Senators' lineup after spending just one year in Belleville, and appears to be a perfect fit for Guy Boucher's new-look coaching scheme. Across nine appearances, Lajoie has already picked up seven points, including four goals. It's only a matter of time before the fresh face becomes more well-known to the hometown crowd.
1. Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks
Rich Lam / Getty Images Sport / Getty
Looking for a dynamic talent who could run away with this year's rookie honors? Feast your eyes on Canucks first-year sensation Pettersson, if you haven't already.
Through seven appearances, the 19-year-old forward has picked up ten points, including seven goals, showing he can be an integral building block in the Canucks' forward corps alongside Brock Boeser. Even more impressive is that the Swedish talent hasn't struggled in adapting to the pace of play in his first season in North America.
While it's unknown what Pettersson's stat line would look like had he not missed a six-game stretch after a suffering a concussion, the good news is he has since returned to the lineup.
