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Playoffs Round 1: Battle of Ontario

Bender said:
Well that's a choice. We need secondary scoring and we sit Robertson? And still no Kampf?
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Kampf, I get. They started the season basically looking to see if Holmberg was a suitable in all those same roles, and then they went and got Laughton + Carlo, so Kampf is basically a one trick pony with no niche left to fill.

If it were up to me, it'd be Pacioretty-Holmberg-Robertson with McMann opposite Nylander, and Domi seeing how much popcorn he can fit in his mouth with all that extra teeth space available vs Ryan Reaves.

Ultimately, who plays on the 4th line is negligible. Big dogs gotta show up like they did when penalties were being called and assert themselves on the game. Another no-show from Matthews and it doesn't matter what the result with Ottawa is because Florida is going to chew them up anyway. Putting up Phillip Danault defense is not really what his pay grade entails.

Tavares is doing his job; big draws, big goals in big moments
Knies is doing his job: big goals backed by his big bottom
Nylander could be doing better, but he has scored one and had 3 nasty primary assists that were as good as goals.
Marner started off hot and has been very good defensively and racked up a lot of pts; still want to see more if he's looking north of 13M

Matthews, though he has the same even strength output as Marner (1G-2A), is paid more to do more. His lone goal was arguably Marner's work. A different outcome on a couple of posts and that missed 2-on-1 might change the picture, but again, he is paid to put it in the net.
 
Nylander probably pushes close to 100 points if Holmberg isn't on their line half the year. The guy had no ability to finish a play. So many times the play would die on his stick. He's perfectly fine as the 4C do nothing guy but he shouldn't only play in the top 6 when you are trying to shore up defence when defending a lead.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Holmberg could absolutely have missed that one...
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Absolutely. Marner did the hard work with the puck, but the majority of the league would not have recognized how that play could (and did) develop and get into a good spot to deliver that shot. Most of the credit goes to Marner, for sure, but Matthews still contributed an important aspect to turning it into a legit chance and a goal.
 
L K said:
Nylander probably pushes close to 100 points if Holmberg isn't on their line half the year. The guy had no ability to finish a play. So many times the play would die on his stick. He's perfectly fine as the 4C do nothing guy but he shouldn't only play in the top 6 when you are trying to shore up defence when defending a lead.
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There were a few times in the last game where the Leafs had pressure for a couple shifts until the puck ended up on his stick. He wasn't finishing his checks or making good plays with the puck. He's shown flashes of being able to be more - and, maybe he just needs to put in more time with the skills team working on his shot, etc. - but, right now, 3rd/4th liner at best.
 
herman said:
Matthews, though he has the same even strength output as Marner (1G-2A), is paid more to do more. His lone goal was arguably Marner's work. A different outcome on a couple of posts and that missed 2-on-1 might change the picture, but again, he is paid to put it in the net.
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"Matthews, though he has the same even strength output as Marner (1G-2A), is paid more to do more. His lone goal was arguably Marner's work."

I think Matthews goal was also Marner's idea for the Leafs.

Its basically Cooper's play that Makar Marner and McDavid executed in the OT winner for the 4 Nations versus US. 100% Elite!


Rielly wrap around pass to Marner and to Matthews in front of the net for the goal. 100% Elite!
 
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