Jones anchors Maple Leafs in goal, helps spark defensive turnaround

TORONTO -- Martin Jones shot out his right pad and stretched as far as he could.

What looked like an easy tap-in for San Jose Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun, who had crept down from the blue line to take a cross-slot pass from Jan Rutta midway through the third period Tuesday, became just one of 22 saves for the Toronto Maple Leafs goalie in a 7-1 win at Scotiabank Arena.

The save stood out, not just for how impressive it was, but also because of the infrequency with which Jones has had to come up with saves of that variety during a four-game winning streak for himself and the Maple Leafs. He has made 103 saves on 106 shots (.972 save percentage) during the streak.

“It’s the NHL. The other team is going to make plays, they’re going to get some looks at your net, it’s never going to be perfect,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said Tuesday. “But we’ve done a good job of limiting our mistakes, and as a result you limit what you give up. When we do make mistakes, we’ve been getting saves, and that just settles the team too, right? That’s why it’s been so important for us to keep Jones going here because he’s a part of this. It’s not just the team in front of him, it’s all fit in and everybody has done their job.”

Jones is expected to make his sixth consecutive start Thursday when the Maple Leafs (21-10-7) visit the New York Islanders (18-12-10) at UBS Arena (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, TSN4).

He was named the NHL’s Second Star for the week ending Jan. 7 after going 3-0-0 on the road against the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 2, the Anaheim Ducks on Jan. 3 and the Sharks on Jan. 6, combining for a 0.66 goals-against average, a .976 save percentage and one shutout.

“Everything seems to be coming straight on from in front of me, so it’s been a huge help,” Jones said Tuesday. “I think we’ve been really good in front of the net as well. ... A lot of good things.

“A couple of these games haven’t been overly taxing. We’ve controlled a lot of the play. It is nice to get into a bit of a rhythm. Any goalie will tell you when you string a few together and start feeling good, it usually helps a bit.”

The 34-year-old veteran of 456 NHL games, who is in his first season with Toronto after signing a one-year, $875,000 contract Aug. 9, emerged as something of a savior for the Maple Leafs at a time when they were searching for answers in goal.

Joseph Woll sustained a high ankle sprain during a 4-3 win against the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 7, and though he has begun skating and is pleased with his progress, he remains week to week.

Ilya Samsonov, who made 18 saves in a 4-0 win against the Nashville Predators on Dec. 9, struggled in his next four starts, going 0-1-3 while allowing 21 goals. He was placed on waivers Dec. 31, spent the following week working with Hannu Toivonen, goalie coach for Toronto of the American Hockey League, while the Maple Leafs were in California, and returned to practice Wednesday.

Since the game when Woll was injured, Toronto is 8-4-3. Jones has seven of those wins.

“You can tell he’s been through it once or twice,” Maple Leafs captain John Tavares said Wednesday. “A very calm demeanor as a guy, and that really translates to him in the net, just very calm and poised, just tries to find his spots on how he plays the shooter and just lets the puck come towards him and trust his technique and his ability. It’s just calm and very composed.”

Despite his team going 0-2-1 in its first three games after the holiday break, Keefe suggested prior to the three-game California road trip that positive trends were emerging in the Maple Leafs’ defensive play. Those only continued throughout the trip.

When Mikael Granlund scored for San Jose at 11:57 of the third period in Toronto’s 4-1 win Saturday, it was the first goal the Maple Leafs had allowed at 5-on-5 since Adam Fantilli scored at 13:46 of the third in a 6-5 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 29, a span of more than three full games.

Toronto has allowed three goals over its past four games after allowing an average of 3.44 in its first 34 games.

“Defense [has] just been a focus of ours,” defenseman Morgan Rielly said Wednesday. “Up until the Christmas break, I don’t think we were playing that well defensively. Even though we came back after the break and we lost all three games -- Ottawa, Carolina and Columbus -- we made strides, we were playing better, so that was our focus on the road trip to keep that trend going, and I think we’ve managed to do a pretty good job.”

With back-to-back games approaching at home against the Colorado Avalanche (Saturday) and Detroit Red Wings (Sunday), Tavares said Toronto’s objective is to continue to build on arguably its best stretch of play this season when it faces New York, which has lost four of its past five games and been outscored 10-4 in consecutive losses.

“Just being poised with our game,” Tavares said. “Not that you don’t want to be aggressive and on the attack, but you also don’t want to be reckless and overcommitted and exposing yourself, so our game has been patient as it needs to be, and then just work for your opportunities and capitalize on those, understanding the type of games we’re going to be in and the type of teams we were playing. It’s something to continue to build on, and we know the challenge we have tomorrow and going into the weekend.”