Toronto Maple Leafs centre Nazem Kadri scored five points the other night against the Blue Jackets.
Just a few days before that, Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner scored five point himself in a game against the Senators.
#Leafs Nazem Kadri records the 15th five-point game by a player this season. There were just 6 games with a player recording 5+ points all of last season.
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) February 15, 2018
While the above Tweet is pretty crazy, what’s even crazier is the fact that while Marner and Kadri each got five points only a few games apart, it had previously been almost ten years since a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs scored five points in a game.
Mitch Marner is the first @MapleLeafs player to record five points in a game since Tomas Kaberle on Oct. 26, 2009 at ANA (1-4—5). #NHLStats #OTTvsTOR pic.twitter.com/yBWTIYOV0A
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 11, 2018
Against the Ducks, about eight and a half years ago (note: 2009 definitely doesn’t seem like that long ago!) Kaberle scored a goal and added four assists. It blows my mind that Marner and Kadri did is several days apart.
What Is Crazier?
Kadri had a hattrick + two assists, but what’s even crazier about him doing it so soon after Marner did, is that Kadri wasn’t even the best player in that game. Despite having a career night, Kadri was overshadowed by the 54 save, Vezina clinching performance of Frederick Anderson.
As for Marner, he had two goals and three assists, but the highest game-score of any player this season. Beyond his five point performance, what really stood out in Marner’s game was that he was damn near a 90% possession player, which is unheard of.
Marner and Kadri
While I don’t think putting Komorov on the fourth line is very smart – he’s the best defensive forward on a team with few, if any, quality defensive forwards. There is no question that putting Kadri and Marner together is one of the best moves Babcock has ever made.
Since being combined, Marner has 13 points in ten games, while Kadri has 15. Considering both players have gone through pretty big dry spells this year, that is nothing short of amazing.
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Of course these numbers are only a short sample size, and of course they’re skewed by two pretty huge games, but that doesn’t make them totally unimpressive.
If the Leafs have two killer combos in Matthews/Nylander and Kadri/Marner then they are going to be pretty damn hard to defend against most nights when you factor in that Bozak/JVR is their THIRD (!) best combo. I’m not even a big Bozak fan, but he’s as bad as he is defensively, he does have great offensive skills.
Next: Jake Gardiner Injury Update
This team can win the Cup this year. That’s how good they are. The potential is off the charts and I cannot wait for the Playoffs.