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Maple Leafs Notes from Sabres Win: Matthews, Marner & Murray

In this edition of Toronto Maple Leafs News & Rumors, I’ll focus on takeaways from the 5-2 Maple Leafs’ win over the Buffalo Sabres last night. It was one of the first times this season that Toronto fans were not sitting on the edge of their chairs watching the game.

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It was a Maple Leafs’ win from the first period’s three goals until the end of the game. The team had a solid effort all game, and the 5-2 score could have been even tilted more in Toronto’s favour if it had not been for so many penalty kills.

Item One: Matthews and Marner Reunited

I’ve been a supporter of splitting up Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner as a way to balance the team’s top-six units a bit more. To make my point, I’ve used the situation in Edmonton with the Oilers’ two great forwards – Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl – as an example of what Oilers’ coach Jay Woodcroft did to balance off that team’s lines.


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That said, there’s something a bit different about Matthew and Marner as opposed to McDavid and Draisaitl. That difference was evident last night against the Sabres who have one really stacked forward line. For as good as McDavid and Draisaitl might be, the Matthews and Marner combination is defensively superior.

Although the Sabres have now lost a bunch in a row, their forward line of Jeff Skinner, Tage Thompson, and Alex Tuch is really solid. This line was consistently in the Maple Leafs’ defensive zone for the first part of the game.

When it became evident that, for as good as Matthews was defensively, his line with Michael Bunting and William Nylander was being worn down by the offensive pressure of the Sabres’ strong line. Then head coach Sheldon Keefe went back to the pairing he trusted the most – Matthews and Marner.  

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That lineup change moved the dial for the team. Marner and Matthews changed the game’s momentum. Together Matthews and Marner combined to register three points during the game – all assists. Against the lesser competition, Tavares and Nylander put up five points, including three goals. It was a good coaching move by Keefe and suggests how many options this team has.

As much as the Maple Leafs have a high-powered offence, coach Keefe is (to my way of thinking) a defensive coach. He likes to play solid defence in front of his goalie. He appreciates consistently reliable 200-foot…

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