Toronto Maple Leafs: Round One, Game Three Headlines

The Toronto Maple Leafs may have split the first two games of the series on the road, but it sure doesn’t feel like it.

In the aftermath of Saturday’s abject disaster, the Maple Leafs are headed back home for what is expected to be a daunting challenge. The Bruins are riding a wave of momentum, having all but neutralized Toronto’s attack in Game Two, while taking out a key contributor in the process.

The details of Nazem Kadri‘s inevitable suspension have yet to be determined at the time of publication. It’s practically guaranteed that Kadri will miss tonight’s Game Three showdown, however, and that is the assumption that this piece will be operating under moving forward.

So, without further adieu, let’s comb through some pre-game headlines.

Nylander at Centre

With Kadri awaiting the length of his suspension, the third line centre role will now fall upon the shoulders of William Nylander.

It’s funny, really.

Given the sheer breadth of talent Toronto boasts along either wing, Mike Babcock has seemingly opted to go in a different direction and pair Nylander with the two candidates who are the least adept at providing him with offensive support on the roster.

Neither Connor Brown nor Patrick Marleau can drive possession in their own right. A lengthy track record of results which spans throughout the regular season proves exactly that. Instead, that responsibility will now be heaped onto Nylander who, in his first postseason game spent down the middle, has more than enough to worry about already.

Not to mention, the Marleau – Nylander – Brown trio isn’t exactly a fresh experiment, either.

Brown and Nylander spent a total of 231:07 alongside each other throughout the regular season, according to Natural StatTrick, earning a dazzling 54.64% CF%/60 at 5v5 in the process. In a similar period of time next to the Swedish star – 225:04, to be exact – the Marleau-Nylander connection produced an equally impressive 54.83%.

And while either player’s sample size upon being split up from Nylander doubles – 477:42 and 483:43 for Brown and Marleau, respectively – their WOWY splits are otherwise incredibly telling as to who the line’s main engine truly was.

Away from Nylander, Brown’s CF5/60 at 5v5 drops to 47.99%. Marleau’s lands at 49.66%.

Even strength Corsi is, of course, not the be-all-end-all stat. No one metric is. That’s obvious. But Nylander is nonetheless being forced to play a position he’s had limited experience with thanks to circumstances outside of his own control, and during the most high-stakes game of the Maple Leafs’ season.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to set him up for success, rather than tilt him towards failure.

Hutchinson is Back

With all parties healthy and accounted for, Michael Hutchinson makes his return to the Maple Leafs’ bench tonight. He will replace Garret Sparks in the role of Frederik Andersen‘s understudy.

Congratulations to the Hutchinson family on the birth of a healthy baby girl!

Puck drops at 7:00 PM.

Stats courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.com