Off-ice pals showcase their on-ice chemistry
Leafs head coach to keep Matthews alongside Marner while going is good
TERRY KOSHAN
Auston Matthews could get used to this thing about playing regularly with close pal Mitch Marner.
As Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock continues to try to find a winning combination among his forward lines, expect Matthews, Marner and Zach Hyman to be together again when the Leafs meet the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night.
“He’s really easy to play with,” Matthews said of Marner.
“I feel like we know where each other is going to be, especially through the neutral zone. You get the puck to him and he’s always looking to get it back to you or vice versa. It works out well.”
Babcock would be foolish to break up the line.
The three combined for 20 shot attempts in a 2-1 Leafs loss in a shootout to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday and Matthews tied an NHL career high with eight shots on goal.
At practice Thursday, Babcock kept Tyler Bozak between James van Riemsdyk and William Nylander, and stuck with Nazem Kadri between Leo Komarov and Nikita Soshnikov.
A new fourth line — which wouldn’t be slotted as such on many NHL clubs — featured Patrick Marleau between Josh Leivo and Connor Brown.
Matt Martin and Dominic Moore were the extra forwards.
“If it’s going really good, we don’t change,” Babcock said. “Matty was out for a while and we won a whole bunch of games (all four while Matthews was injured). Matty came back and we have moved him around because we haven’t got it going since.
“Marleau is playing way more centre on the road than he is at home. At home, I match him up each night. On the road, it gives me a deeper look so I can handle the matchups better, so that’s part of it.”
Babcock wants Matthews and Marner to succeed together.
“Mitchy has been coming anyway and I thought he was skating (against Florida),” Babcock said.
“We’re going to have to shoot the puck. He plays with those guys and does not like doing that, so we have to figure that out. We’ll just keep plugging away and see how it goes. But I like a lot of things we’re doing.”
MISSED CHANCES LAMENTED
Defenceman Morgan Rielly acknowledged that failing to score on three terrific chances in Florida gnawed at him into the day on Thursday.
Rielly hit iron twice and on another chance, on a pass from Matthews, was denied when Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo made a save with his left arm.
Had any of those chances become goals, the outcome might have been different.
“Oh yeah, it sticks with you,” Rielly said.
“You want to score and you work on it all summer and stuff like that, and then you hit the post a couple of times. Bad luck? Over the course of the year that happens.”