"If you're GM Brad Treliving, this is the game you've been dreaming about all season. All four lines were rolling, the defense chipped in with some points, while their goalie stopped 35 of 37 shots. On a back-to-back, the Leafs were bound to allow some scoring chances to a resurging Penguins team, but Dennis Hildeby was up for the challenge."
"For the first time all year, it felt like every player fit into place perfectly and Craig Berube finally coached this team to how they are supposed to play. If you look at ice-time, Matthew Knies led all forwards with 20:17 TOI, while no other forward played over 20 minutes. The team received some important depth scoring from Dakota Joshua, Nic Roy, Nick Robertson and Bobby McMann, but it's actually the top-six we should talk about in more depth."
"Maybe it's because he only played 27 seconds of short-handed hockey and played over 5 minutes of power-play time, but Auston Matthews looked like his old self. Over the past few years, Matthews has been given a bigger role defensively, which is what has seemingly hurt him offensively, so watching the captain back in a primarily offensive role was great."
The Maple Leafs defeated the Penguins 7-2 with strong contributions from all four lines, defense, and goaltending as Dennis Hildeby stopped 35 of 37 shots. Matthew Knies led forwards with 20:17 TOI, while no other forward exceeded 20 minutes. Depth scoring came from Dakota Joshua, Nic Roy, Nick Robertson and Bobby McMann, complementing an effective top-six. Auston Matthews shifted back into a primarily offensive role, logging minimal penalty-kill time and substantial power-play minutes, producing eight shot attempts. Coaching adjustments by Craig Berube enabled better role clarity and offensive creation, particularly by allowing star players to focus on scoring.
Read at Editor In Leaf
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]