TORONTO — Mike Babcock is genuinely thrilled to coach Auston Matthews and the youngest current roster in the NHL, especially when No. 34 launches his career with four goals.
With that comes the mistakes of youth, but the Maple Leafs coach was more concerned his veterans were culpable a few times in Wednesday’s 5-4 overtime in Ottawa. Toronto has its home opener on Saturday against Boston and can’t expect a multi-goal game every night from its teenage centre and wingers Zach Hyman and William Nylander.
“Nice to see how good our kids can be,” Babcock said after a Thursday practice with a large media presence covering Matthews. “We have a lot of veterans who can be a lot better, we have to keep the puck out of our net.
“There were too many mistakes (overall, including a flub or two from goalie Frederik Andersen), but we controlled most of the game and had the puck most of the time.”