Just some random stuff from the Hotstove:
Toronto Maple Leafs Notebook: Do the Leafs have a matchup line?
Auston Matthews and
Andreas Johnsson have played nearly 70 minutes together — an extremely small sample size — but have a 60.87 CF% together. Similar to Hyman, Matthews has benefitted from his relentless forechecking.
I think it’s very confusing to me that
Trevor Moore can get called up from the
Marlies and get on the second power play unit, but
Kasperi Kapanen, who has been very good in the NHL this season, is not on the power play at all. Kapanen is fifth on the team in scoring and 12th on the team in total power play ice time.
5. I think it’s going to be hard to take either
Frederik Gauthier or
Trevor Moore out when everyone is healthy… But these are good problems to have and the Leafs can create lots of internal competition.
Last April, David Pastrnak racked up 13 points in their seven-game series, and in one of the games where he did not record a point, he put 10 shots on net. They had basically no answer
Playoffs are about matchups and either the Leafs are going to have to create a shutdown line they can trust or feel great about their head-to-head matchup (Pastrnak has outscored Tavares 4-1 so far at 5v5, largely without Patrice Bergeron there).
This is a good team that has most of the pieces it needs, but they need to figure out how to arrange and deploy them still.
Travis Dermott has struggled recently — such as getting beat in the neutral zone against Detroit that led to a partial breakaway goal — and has seen his ice time reduced. He only played 15:12 in that game. The night before against the Rangers, he struggled as well and only played 14:11. Against the Blue Jackets, he played 16:45. All three games he was on for goals against that he had a role in. Against the Islanders, he played over 21 minutes, largely due to the team being down so much, so early. This is his first full season in the NHL and it’s not uncommon to see young players struggle at this time of the year. The team has had a good chunk of time off here due to the holidays and the scheduling. Let’s see how he rebounds in January.
In the third period against the Islanders, Babcock reunited
Kadri – Matthews – Nylander for a shift and it was their best shift of the game. I know I’ve said this before, but I think I’d be finding ways to get them together for a shift or two each period, not just when the game is already over. If anything, especially when they are in the heat of a battle, that line can swing games and you can follow up with the Tavares line and then any line you want after that.
