TAMPA, Fla. — No matter where you were sitting in Amalie Arena in Tampa around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday night, you likely heard what everyone else in the arena heard: the sweet sound of relief, manifested in Nick Robertson screaming his lungs out.
In case you hadn’t heard, it had been more than a month since the 23-year-old left winger — known first and foremost as a goal scorer — last found the back of the net. This is the same player who scored at a 20-goal pace last season. The same player who strutted into the regular season after a white-hot preseason.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way for Robertson. His summer didn’t go as planned, with a trade request that went unfulfilled. His only option was to bet on himself with a one-year, $875,000 deal. If he could score regularly and earn more ice time, short deals like that one might be a thing of the past.
In short, Robertson was expected to take a jump this season.
Instead, the only goal he had scored in 19 games before Saturday night came in the third period of a 6-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a game already out of reach. And trade talk surrounding Robertson emerged, yet again.
“This is something I haven’t dealt with before,” Robertson said postgame.
That’s why in the seconds after Robertson deftly found a few inches above all-world Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy’s right shoulder, his post-goal scream was so loud it could be heard hundreds of feet above the ice in the Amalie Arena press box. And the proverbial monkey Robertson chucked off his back was likely thrown even further: Into nearby McKay Bay? Out into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico?
Wherever it landed, Robertson will be happy to never see it again.
“Hell of a snipe,” Matthew Knies said of Robertson’s goal.
ROBBY ABSOLUTELY RIPS IT 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/SKSd2BCDuV
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 1, 2024
It was an evening full of positives for the Maple Leafs in their convincing 5-3 win over the Lightning: their five-on-five scoring popped with all five goals coming at even strength. Joseph Woll continued to make his case to be considered the Leafs starter, stopping 39 of 42 shots with a locked-in performance. Knies showed no signs of rust in a return from injury, tipping in the Leafs’ opening goal. Chris Tanev got on the board with his first goal as a Leaf. Auston Matthews returned from a nine-game injury absence.
But with the many reasons for the Leafs to be happy, no smile stretched as wide as Robertson’s as he returned to the bench following his goal.
“I know that one felt really good for him,” Matthews said of Robertson. “And all the boys were extremely pumped for him on that.”
And looking ahead from the win over the Lightning, no Leaf’s season could change like Robertson’s might after this game.
“That stuff can weigh on you sometimes,” Matthews said of Robertson’s dry spell, before adding: “I think there’s more to come from him.”
On the morning ahead of his goal, Robertson was looking for a jolt. Anything to help end his lousy luck.
And so he threw a curveball into his standard routine.
Robertson is a regular attendee of optional morning skates. Any opportunity he can get to finely tune his world-class shot. But when a handful of Leafs gathered on the ice this morning in Tampa, Robertson was nowhere to be seen.
Most hockey players are creatures of habit. Most hockey players expected to score don’t find twine just once in 19 games, though.
“I was open to changing anything,” Robertson said with a grin.
Robertson was feeling a bit leggy. He saw a small window of opportunity to change things up and skipped the morning skate.
What hasn’t changed through his dry spell has been his effort level. That rarely dips for Robertson, but it’s been crucial to note that he’s been getting chances. That hasn’t gone unnoticed.
And so the other element of his routine that changed was a conversation focused on what kind of chances he was getting.
Robertson and Leafs head coach Craig Berube spoke in the morning about making the choice to hold onto the puck and get toward the net more and more instead of opting to shoot from further out. There had to have been reminders that the coaching staff maintains continued confidence in Robertson.
“No problem with the work ethic,” Berube said of Robertson.
Berube wants Robertson to score more of the kind of goals that Knies notched in the first period: net-front, greasy stuff.
Of course, Robertson’s 5-foot-9 frame doesn’t exactly lend itself to clearing up garbage in front of the net. That’s part of the conundrum Robertson has found himself in: Berube wants Robertson to score the kind of goals he isn’t known for scoring.
And so it felt like his goal was something of a happy compromise: as he corralled the puck off the boards, Robertson might have taken one extra step just past the faceoff dot. It’s one more step than he might have taken in recent games, when he looked prone to shooting the puck from further away from the goal and as soon as he got control of it.
“I think I can look at my game and see what I can do to best be effective on the ice,” Robertson said.
Robertson’s goal was the kind of goal he is expected to score: by relying on his razor-sharp and powerful shot. He just landed it a little closer to where Berube would prefer him to shoot from.
Make it one small step for Robertson, one giant leap for his confidence.
“I’m enjoying being around (teammates), and that helps, being around a group of guys that gets you not thinking about (not scoring),” Robertson said.
Berube hopes Robertson can “build off” his goal. And it’s important to note here that Berube’s continued public backing of Robertson hasn’t gone unnoticed.
And that’s what’s going to be crucial for Robertson moving forward. Eventually, the rest of the Leafs forward group will get healthy. Regular lineup spots for players outside the core are harder to come by. If Robertson isn’t scoring, it becomes harder to justify that spot for him.
But if this goal becomes the point in the season when Robertson’s game and production turn for the better, a few things could happen.
The Leafs — who scored four five-on-five goals tonight for the first time since an Oct. 28 win over the Winnipeg Jets — will be better off with more secondary scoring from lower down the lineup. The Leafs scored a paltry nine five-on-five goals with Matthews out of the lineup for the previous nine games. They still remain in the bottom half of the NHL in five-on-five goals this season.
Saturday’s win over the Lightning was a reminder of what this team is capable of with a whole bunch of five-on-five goals. If Robertson can provide some of that, the Leafs’ chances of fighting for the Atlantic Division title remain that much better.
But secondly, and more importantly, Robertson’s goal could put him at ease mentally. He’s a player that has long had high — sometimes unrealistic — expectations of himself. Robertson — he of the “I can’t tell you what a dialled-back Nick Robertson looks like” fame — puts serious amounts of pressure on himself to produce.
What’s different about the 2024-25 version of Robertson compared to past seasons is that he hasn’t looked on the verge of collapsing as he hasn’t scored. Never one to shy away from venting his frustrations publicly, Robertson has looked and sounded more mature than ever in his pursuit of goals.
“Just keep being positive,” Robertson said of where his head has been at through his dry spell. “Being patient. Trying to stay confident when things aren’t going your way, production-wise.”
The hope then is that after this goal, Robertson stays in the lineup and keeps pushing for spots toward the top six. He’s become one of the most polarizing Leafs this season. Consistent production will not only keep him higher up the lineup but remind onlookers of what he’s capable of.
Those within the team know just that.
“Tonight he had a great shot. I see him every day in practice, so I know that shot. He’s one of the best shooters I’ve ever seen,” Woll said.
Now that he’s scored a classic Robertson goal for first the time all season, the weight of the world might not rest so heavily on his shoulders. And that could translate to even more goals, and the kind of dynamic and relentless play the Leafs have always hoped to get from him.
(Photo: Mark LoMoglio / NHLI via Getty Images)
