Leafs expect ‘hard game’ from Kings after allowing 8 goals to Ottawa

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It can go one of two ways Wednesday night when the Los Angeles Kings come to Scotiabank Arena.

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Either the visitors are still shell-shocked from losing 8-7 Monday in overtime in Ottawa and be easy pickings or, with a day’s rest, they’ll be set on making their end a no-fly zone for Maple Leaf incursions. The Kings practised in Toronto on Tuesday.

“I’ve talked to the guys already,” Toronto coach Craig Berube said after Tuesday’s practice. “We can’t even look at that (eight goals against). This is a hungry team coming in here, they’ve been on a road trip (a gruelling five-game Eastern swing to start the season). They’re a good team, big and heavy, so we’ve got to be prepared.

“It will be a hard game.”

Of course, the Kings’ respected offence did score seven. Anthony Stolarz, who knows the team well from his tour of duty down the highway in Anaheim, likely gets the start in net for Toronto.

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“It was an intense rivalry for sure, them being only 45 minutes away,” Stolarz said. “Always hard-fought, a little physical, a little dirty, but just having that familiarity with them and some of their players is going to help me know what to expect.”

The Kings, who are the first Western Conference team to cross paths with Toronto this year, won 4-1 here last October, the Leafs shutting them out 3-0 in L.A. to open the calendar year 2024.

MAN FROM UNCLE

John Tavares is going to the Hall of Fame.

Okay, not the John Tavares you’re thinking of, nor the first Hall that comes to mind for hockey.

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John Tavares, the box lacrosse player, uncle of the Leafs’ alternate captain, will be officially inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame at a Thursday night dinner at the Marriott Airport Hotel. The elder Tavares, 56, is one of the few Hall of Famers in any sport to be a champion player and coach.

The National Lacrosse League legend led in career games played (306), goals (815), assists (934) and points (1,749). The three-time league MVP, the last in 2001, has coached the NLL Buffalo Bandits and the current Mann Cup champions, the Six Nations Chiefs.

“I’m just very happy when he gets the recognition he deserves,” the Leaf centre said. “For our generation of athletes across Canada, he’s been one of the most underrated for how long he did it at such a high level.

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“The championships he’s won, the individual records he set and the type of teammate and leader he’s been … now he’s showing it as a coach in the NLL and the Mann Cup.”

Tavares said as a kid watching his uncle play made a huge impression.

“Not many guys grow up with that type of influence. You don’t realize it at the time, to watch him prepare, compete, but also how he carried himself.”

His own father, Joe, was the older of the two when the family first came to Canada from Portugal, but devoted much of his time to getting he and relatives settled, with Uncle John born here later. Tavares said Tuesday that Joe wasn’t quite as gifted an athlete, but played soccer and a bit of hockey, with the ability to shoot right or left.

“That’s something he’s told me I can’t do,” John laughed. “But lacrosse is our family sport, my uncles and a few of my cousins all did well in it.”

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The 1973 Toronto Marlies are also among those being honoured at the OSHF dinner.

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OLE, OEL

Oliver Ekman-Larsson would love it if his first Leafs goal were to come on the power play Wednesday, now that he’s been given a chance as the prime defenceman on the top unit with the likes of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander.

“I’m trying to help out any way I can,” said the former Florida Panther. “It’s nice. It’s hard to decide who to give the puck to (with the man advantage) sometimes. Any of those guys is a good option and so many threats.”

But so far, the group is 0-for-9 — and that’s why OEL has the promotion, an opportunity to use his shot, which was considered to be harder than Morgan Rielly’s for this particular role, with better ability to sift it through defenders to the net. The Leafs need rebounds to hound, having fallen back to an old habit of trying to thread the needle with too many passes.

“I worked a lot (getting pucks on net) during the years and still do,” he said. “Walking that blueline, trying to move my feet. I have a pretty long stick that helps, too, to get around the puck quicker and slide it out a little bit more if I have to.”

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