Leafs Head Coach Craig Berube Has Specific Concern About Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has a specific concern about Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner coming out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
After what was considered a fairly quiet tournament from both Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews, they were two of the best players on the ice in the 4 Nations Face-Off finale last week when Canada defeated Team USA to capture the 4 Nations Face-Off championship.
Both Matthews and Marner boasted multi-point efforts in the championship game, with Marner assisting on McDavid's overtime winner to secure the victory Canada on enemy terrain in Boston.
Unfortunately, since coming back from the tournament, there hasn't been much downtime to speak of for Matthews and Marner, who recently found out he's going to become a father, and as Berube pointed out following last night's win over the Bruins, they're both exhausted.
"He and Auston have been a little bit tired for me, but I thought they showed a lot of grit tonight. A lot of determination out of them. Willy, too, but Willy is a little more rested, right?
Mitch had a heck of a game. He played a lot of minutes - I overplayed him, but we killed too many penalties tonight, so he was used on the penalty kill. He was an excellent player tonight, I thought."
Mitch had a heck of a game. He played a lot of minutes - I overplayed him, but we killed too many penalties tonight, so he was used on the penalty kill. He was an excellent player tonight, I thought."
Berube admitted that he's been trying to keep their ice time down a bit since their return, but for Mitch Marner, a primary penalty killer and power play contributor, it's been a challenge to limit his minutes.
"Since we got back, I have been rolling four lines pretty steadily. I cut it down in the third tonight and went to three lines for most of the third, but coming off of the 4 Nations, they are a little wiped out. I mindfully tried to keep their minutes under 20, which I think I did a good job of, but tonight, I didn't."
The Leafs will have an extra day off between games this week, as the team does not play again until Friday against the Rangers. The game, though is in New York, so there will be some travel involved.
The obvious hope here is that the Leafs can continue to win games and stack up points so that they can clinch a playoff spot as early as possible and begin to rest some guys for the playoffs. I'd imagine that Matthews and Marner are at the top of that list if such a scenario were to materialize.
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