The Leafs can't afford to have John Tavares be invisible in round one and so far that's exactly what he's been
With all the talk about how Matthews and Marner "disappeared" last year against the Habs, they have done their best through 2 games to write a new chapter. Matthews has already equaled his points total and doubled his goals from last year, while Marner has already scored twice and surpassed his point total as well. So far through 2 games, just like last year, Tavares has been invisible, only this time he's actually healthy and in the lineup.
Tavares registered 1 assist in game 1, but has been nearly invisible at 5on5. He has scored just once in his last 10 games dating back to April 12th against Buffalo. Not what you want to see from your captain with an $11 million cap hit. As much as I have a dislike for Sid Seixeiro, he does make a good point. Matthews and Marner cannot carry the team for the entire playoffs, let alone an entire series. It's just not possible with playoff hockey. You need contributions from up and down your lineup, and your top guys need to play at the level that you'd expect from your top guys. From an offensive perspective, Tavares has not done that through two games. Thankfully, there's still time to turn things around and with two very big road games coming up in Tampa, the time is now for the captain to step up his game.
The issue with Tavares is that he's streaky. When he's on a roll, the points come in bunches, but when he's cold, he couldn't hit a soccer net. I'm perfectly fine with Tavares not contributing much offensively as long as he commits to making life hell for Tampa's top line. Turn into a version of Patrice Bergeron and play a shutdown roll and become more involved physically. Through 2 games Spezza has been more physically involved with the popcorn in the press box than Tavares has been in either game.
We know he's not the fastest, but being slower doesn't mean you can't be effective. He's always been strong on his skates and difficult to knock off the puck and his hockey IQ is still tops in the league, and if the offense isn't coming, it's on him to adapt and do other things to help the Leafs win. Let's hope JT figures things out or makes some changes in game 3 before the may have to play from behind in the series.
| POLL | ||
MAI 5 | 385 ANSWERS The Leafs can't afford to have John Tavares be invisible in round one and so far that's exactly what he's been Will John Tavares end the slump with a big game in one or both games in Tampa? | ||
| Yes, I'm not worried | 125 | 32.5 % |
| No, he's not fast enough to keep up with Tampa | 63 | 16.4 % |
| He's doing well in other areas of the game | 80 | 20.8 % |
| For $11M, he better tilt the ice every shift | 117 | 30.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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