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The obvious numbers don’t add up for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner in this first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens.
They should be a goal-a-game line. Or even more than that in conjunction with Zach Hyman.
They should be dominant the way Nathan MacKinnon’s line has been explosive in Colorado or the way the Brayden Point-Nikita Kucherov line has been in Tampa Bay.
The obvious numbers indicate that Matthews has scored just once in the series, and, as the leading goal-scorer in all of hockey, that doesn’t seem like much. Hyman has scored once also. Marner has no goals through five games.
Two goals in five games for the line with no name.
That’s the bad part. The good part: No forwards have played more for either team in the series than the Matthews line. No one is even close. And they have yet to be on the ice for a goal against. Not one.
As great as William Nylander has played offensively this series, he’s been on the ice for five goals against in five games. Playing six or seven minutes a night fewer than Matthews or Marner.
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So, where exactly does value come from? It’s supposed to come from scoring goals and creating offence. That’s why they get the big dollars. The Matthews-Marner line has created offence, held the puck, been defensively responsible, caused Montreal trouble, had numerous shots on goal and lots of the ubiquitous shot attempts.
Which suggests they haven’t produced, but they have. It depends how you define production.
“There’s a lot to it,” said Sheldon Keefe, the Leafs head coach. “Obviously, they’re trying to generate chances. Last night, Hyman had a breakaway. Marner has been in alone a bunch of times … To me, that line has played very well. They accept the responsibility that they have to produce.”
They expect more of themselves. That’s part of who they are, how they define themselves as players. Matthews didn’t come into this series expecting one goal in five games. Marner didn’t expect no goals and four assists to date. But the four points, as meager as it sounds, is more than all but one Montreal player has produced.
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Keefe obviously credits goaltender Carey Price for making life difficult for the big line. But he admits they have to find ways to get Matthews more open, even if he leads the series with 25 shots and no one on the Habs is even close to that.
“We’re playing without two of our top-six forwards,” said Keefe. “It makes it a lot easier for the opposition to focus on them. We think they can produce more. They’ve yet to be scored on in the series. So a lot of good things are happening. You just have to stay with it.
“If you score five or six goals and you give up five or six goals, well, you haven’t really helped the team,”
Keefe believes the Matthews line is handling the difficulties well.
“There are a number of really positive things that are happening for them,” he said. “We tend to look at actual production as a big measuring stick and that’s understandable.”
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In the not-so-regular season, Matthews, Marner and Hyman combined to score 76 goals. So far in this round, two. By their own standards, they should probably have six or seven goals. When you add in the Price factor, the quality of goaltending they’re facing, maybe you drop that number to four or five.
But Jason Spezza is not unlike his coach in his evaluation of the Matthews line.
“They’ve controlled play at all times,” said the Leafs’ veteran leader. “When you’re that good, the puck goes in for you. They’ve had a great series so far. Those guys have played very well for us all series long.”
This much has been apparent heading into Saturday night’s Game 6 at the Bell Centre: Montreal doesn’t really create a lot of offence. The Habs take advantage of Leafs mistakes and that’s how they score almost all of their goals. In the crucial Game 5 defeat of Thursday night, Montreal scored three of its four goals directly off weak or terrible giveaways.
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If you want to get picky, all four of the goals came when a safe Toronto play would have prevented any scoring at all.
The series might be 3-2 in games played — but it’s three games won by the Leafs, and two games lost by them. Montreal is taking advantage of gifts. The Leafs have to stop being generous.
That’s part of what makes Keefe pleased about the Matthews-Marner line. They don’t play much in their own end. They don’t give the puck away carelessly. They don’t make rookie mistakes in the defensive zone. And they haven’t been scored on — which should be the Toronto ticket to the next round of the playoffs.
Should be. Then again, the leading scorer in all of hockey should have more than one goal in a series entering Game 6.
ssimmons@postmedia.com
twitter.com/simmonssteve
SIMMONS: One goal in five games not enough for Matthews and Marner - Toronto Sun
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