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"Power play toughness" does not work; Leafs vs. Bruins

December 8, 2018, 1:24 PM ET [694 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to get back on track after their five-game winning streak was snapped, as they take on the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Saturday. The Leafs begin a stretch of five road games over the next two weeks against Carolina, Tampa Bay, Florida and New Jersey and hope to increase the distance between themselves and their Atlantic Division and playoff rivals, who currently occupy the East’s second wildcard spot.

The two clubs meet for the third time after each winning on home ice last month. Toronto has their full squad available with the return of William Nylander and while the Bruins got blueliner Charlie McAvoy back on Thursday, they are still without defenseman Zdeno Chara and forwards Patrice Bergeron and Jake Debrusk.

Nylander understandably struggled in his debut against Detroit on Thursday and apparently equally as rusty at navigating the streets of the GTA, as he and teammate Kasperi Kapanen were involved in a minor car accident near the Leafs practice facility on Friday.

The Leafs held an optional morning skate in Boston on Saturday and Leafs coach Mike Babcock is expected to shake up his lines again, placing the recently returned winger with Nazem Kadri and Andreas Johnsson (a unit that last played together late in last year’s first round series), while Kapanen will play the right side with Auston Matthews and Patrick Marleau.

Jaroslav Halak (8-4-2, 2.25 GAA, .932 save %) played in both previous games against Toronto and will make his 16th start for the Bruins. Frederik Andersen will go for the Leafs (16-7-0, 2.32 GAA, .931 save %) after being given an uncharacteristic day of rest on Thursday following four straight wins where he faced 40 or more shots.

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There continues to be some debate regarding the Leafs and their roster makeup in the wake of Niklas Kronwall’s heavy check on Auston Matthews in the overtime loss on Thursday. While Matthews was uninjured and did not miss a shift, the fact that there was no response to the hit from his teammates is something that could be a factor during the regular season, and will definitely rear its ugly head when the playoffs roll around.

The lack of push back is something Babcock acknowledged with few players on the roster who play with a physical component and said that the Leafs have rely on other means to prevent the opposition from taking liberties.

"I just think you look at our personnel and you look (at) what we got.” Babcock said.
“We are what we are. Our toughness is our power play. Take all the penalties you want."

That point of view is flawed on a number of levels. The Leafs do have one of the most potent power plays in the NHL (6th - 26.7%) and that has dissuaded some opponents (they have the least amount of power play opportunities (75) in the league), but that has not prevented Matthews from getting knocked out of the lineup for a month by Winnipeg’s Jacob Trouba and nearly injured again by Kronwall.

Targeting top Toronto players in the playoffs is something that an opponent will undoubtedly do, because right now there is little chance that anyone other than possibly Nazem Kadri will respond in kind. Taking a two-minute penalty is a risk worth taking if the result is limiting the effectiveness of Marner, Matthews or Tavares in a seven-game series.

“In the old days you could skate around in warm-up, growl at each other and it actually made a difference. There was someone out there who could actually whack you.” Babcock said. It doesn’t work like that now. Someone hits you hard, you’re not expected to take a penalty, you’re expected to keep playing”.

The league has clearly changed and spots in the lineup are not being occupied by one-dimensional players who are there solely to finish checks and send messages, but if you don’t think that physicality does not have its place in the game anymore, ask the teams who were intimidated by Ryan Reaves, Tom Wilson and Dustin Byfuglien during the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.
Just as important as adding a top-four defenseman to solidify the blueline, GM Kyle Dubas will have to seek some answer to the physical factor before the February 25th trade deadline.

Otherwise, expect players like Chara, Marchand, Wilson, Brooks Orpik and Devante Smith-Pelly to have free reign and impose their will on the smaller, skilled Leafs.

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