Maple Leafs Must Figure Out Power Play Woes
The Toronto Maple Leafs' power play struggles continued again Thursday night, going 0/4 in their 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Maple Leafs forward William Nylander commented on the Maple Leafs' power play slump following the loss. “I think we’ve got to start attacking the net and not looking for that perfect play,” Nylander said.
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Since the end of last season, the Toronto Maple Leafs' power play has been atrocious. In their playoff series, the Leafs went 1/21 on the power play. During the offseason, Toronto replaced assistant coach Guy Boucher with Marc Savard, who had great success in Calgary with their power play.
With Toronto’s firepower offence, everyone thought that the Leafs would be at the top of the rankings on the power play, but that has not been the case this season. The Leafs are 3/27 and sit 26th in the NHL at 11.1%.
Not capitalizing on power plays can cost teams, as we saw in Toronto’s first-round series last season vs. the Boston Bruins. Once again, this season has been costly for Toronto. Watching them set up, it seems like the core four of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, and John Tavares all try to play hero and want to make the perfect play instead of trying to generate a scoring chance when they have the man advantage.
Head coach Craig Berube might want to change both lines and spread out the talent.
Power play one should be:
Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews, Max Domi, William Nylander, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
While power play two should be:
Mitch Marner, John Tavares, Nick Robertson, Bobby McMann, and Morgan Rielly.
If the Leafs can adjust, the sky could be the limit. They might find success and fix their problems.
Toronto’s power play struggles have negatively impacted their performance this season. With the elite talent on the roster, Toronto should be having success. If Berube can make a change and spread out the talent, it would give the team a fresh look and a new strategy. The Leafs must figure out their power play quickly before it becomes a bigger liability than it already is.
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