Tampa head coach Jon Cooper identifies one Leaf who the Bolts will need to contain tonight and it's not Auston Matthews
Coming into this season, I think that arguably the most consistent storyline surrounding Leafs captain John Tavares was that, at 32 years-of-age, we were going to see his production begin to trend downward, as many aging stars tend to do, especially at the center position. In fact, there were some reports this summer that indicated that the Leafs could look to shift Tavares over to the wing, much like what the Tampa Bay Lightning did with superstar forward Steven Stamkos.
Well, coincidentally, the Leafs are in Tampa tonight to take on Stamkos and the Lightning and not only has Tavares not seen his production begin to dip - he has actually seen a spike in production early on this season and is currently sitting over a point per game with 26 points in 25 games so far. What's more is that Tampa's head coach, Jon Cooper, has taken notice.
Cooper is no stranger to tough matches, as the veteran coach has gone on some deep playoff runs in recent years and has two Stanley Cups to show for his efforts. You don't get to that point by overlooking matchups and while many are probably assuming that his biggest concerns are Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews, Cooper had a message to deliver to the media and to the rest of the league following the Lightning's morning skate.
- Jon Cooper on the Leafs' captain
Tavares seemingly turning back the hands of time this season. He has been arguably the most consistent Leaf not named Mitch Marner. JT has posted points in 17 of 25 games for the Leafs thus far, including some clutch individual performances early on this season to keep the Leafs afloat while the team shook off the rust. While he did fail to record a point in 8 games this season, he also recorded 6 multi-point games, including a 4-point night against the Philadelphia Flyers on November 2nd and a 3-point outing against Buffalo on November 19th.
If the Leafs hope to extend their win streak to a season-high 6 games tonight, they'll need to be able to lean on their captain to help lead the way. With a lot of attention likely to be fixated on his linemate Mitch Marner and his 18-game point streak and Cooper's obvious focus on shutting down that line, Tavares is going to have to rely on his work ethic to will his team to victory tonight.
| POLL | ||
3 DECEMBRE | 193 ANSWERS Tampa head coach Jon Cooper identifies one Leaf who the Bolts will need to contain tonight and it's not Auston Matthews Will John Tavares lead the Leafs to victory in Tampa and make it 6 straight tonight? | ||
| Yes | 136 | 70.5 % |
| No | 57 | 29.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
