Keefe shuffles lines in an effort to get Matthews going
Auston Matthews has been surprisingly quiet of late. The two time Rocket Richard winner is completely out of the running for the NHL scoring title and although his defensive game has been excellent, the Leafs need him scoring goals as well. In what appears to be an effort to help Matthews regain his scoring touch, Sheldon Keefe has reunited last season's top line of Bunting, Matthews and Marner.
The line of Tavares, O'Reilly and Marner has been dominant since O'Reilly arrived from St. Louis, so breaking them up does present some risk. O'Reilly's defensive prowess makes up for the loss of Marner on that line, and it's not like Nylander is a real downgrade this season, he does lead the team in scoring after all. Matthews and Marner have been split up for most of this season in order to give the Leafs a more balanced top 6. Now that O'Reilly is here, they can be re-united without costing the Leafs their second line scoring ability, in theory at least.
When the playoffs start, the Leafs will need Matthews firing on all cylinders. Scoring at key times has been a huge issue for the Leafs over the past few seasons. Now the Leafs opponents will have to contend with two absolutely lethal lines instead of one and a half. Here's hoping Keefe's experiment works, and that both lines are able to find traction quickly. The Leafs have a rare Saturday night off tonight, but are back in action in Seattle on Sunday. After the last meeting between the two teams, a 5-1 loss for the Leafs, the boys in blue will be looking for redemption, and to stay ahead of the surging Tampa Bay Lightning.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 25 | 252 ANSWERS Keefe shuffles lines in an effort to get Matthews going Do you like Keefe's idea to reunited Matthews and Marner? | ||
| Yes | 210 | 83.3 % |
| No | 42 | 16.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
