If you're anything like me, you're probably speechless right now. The Toronto Maple Leafs took the Tampa Bay Lightning out in 6 games in Round 1, following 3 years of the Lightning appearing in the Stanley Cup Finals. In Round 2, however, the Leafs haven't even shown up against the Florida Panthers, who barely even qualified for the playoffs.
Game 3 was as close to a must-win scenario as possible for the Leafs, who had already dropped both Games 1 and 2 at home, coming into tonight's game at a 2-0 deficit in the series. Well, in a must-win game, the Leafs, once again, had a hard time solving Sergei Bobrovsky. What's even worse is that not only did they not look like the better team tonight - all 3 of their top paid players were downright awful.
Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares were a combined -3 in Game 3, not looking like the dominant players that they're paid to be for the Leafs. Tavares played just 16:45 in this one, with Matthews playing 20:22 and Marner playing 21:37. They combined for just 6 shots all game and just couldn't seem to generate any real scoring opportunities. In fact, after the 2nd period expired, The Athletic's James Mirtle shared a graphic that was enough to make your blood boil. Of the 18 skaters on the ice for Toronto, Matthews, Marner and Tavares posted the lowest expected goals percentage on the entire team.
This trio of players have cap hits that combine for more than $33.5M and they were the 3 worst players for the Leafs in Game 3. That simply CANNOT happen. It shouldn't happen in the regular season and it definitely shouldn't and can't happen in the playoffs. When you're being paid the type of money that these 3 players are being paid, you need to be on your game each and every night and do the little things that the team needs in order to win - and the big things as well. These players are paid to produce, and while players technically aren't earning a salary for the playoffs, the point stands. This team pays these guys to be difference-makers. Not only were they not difference-makers in Game 3, but they haven't been difference-makers in the series and that's concerning.
