Keefe specifically mentioned that the Barzal line was having its way in the matchups when Matthews wasn't on the ice, so he ended up playing his top line just as much as Patrick Roy did his top line to the tune of 24-25 minutes in total time-on-ice for Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews by the end of the night.
The lack of imagination, in part, hamstrings a team that should be using its relative strength at forward to create matchup dilemmas for the opposition as opposed to reacting to the other coach's game plan (on home ice, to boot).
It is true that the team was without a trusted depth center in David Kampf and a trusted middle-six winger in Calle Jarnkrok against the Islanders, but this occurrence is not a one-off or a new development under this head coach, either, and to pretend he wouldn't have followed the same playbook with those two healthy and in the lineup seems pretty naive at this point based on the history.
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