Time to light another spark under William Nylander.
Really, that goes for the Maple Leafs’ second line as a whole, as the trio of Max Domi between Bobby McMann and Nylander has done a lot of nothing in the past three games, all Toronto losses.
None of the three had a point as the Leafs fell against Boston, St. Louis and Columbus, and coach Craig Berube noted some exasperation on the part of Nylander.
“I thought early on, he was creating a lot of opportunities, scored a couple of goals,” Berube told media in Boston on Sunday before the Leafs travelled to Winnipeg for their game on Monday night against the Jets. “But one, the power play is not scoring. He (usually) produces on the power play. Two, I think a little bit of frustration has set in with him as of right now, (because he’s) not getting enough clean looks.
“(We’re) talking to him, trying to help him out and showing him things he can do better. Also, there is not much chemistry with his line right now.”
That’s a little red flag, isn’t it? Domi has to find a way to make a greater impact with more consistency. He has the comfort of playing in the first season of a four-year contract that he signed with the Leafs in July, though he has to work at putting aside the reasons why Toronto is his seventh National Hockey League team in 10 seasons.
As for Nylander, recall that former Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe had to give him a push every so often. At some point, Nylander might get that out of his system. He’s not there yet, even taking into account that on many nights the opposition has trouble getting him off the puck.
Then there is McMann. After scoring three goals in his first three games, McMann has just three shots on goal in his past four games.
When McMann coughed up the puck along the boards, which led to the Bruins’ second goal in a 4-3 Boston overtime win on Saturday night, it stuck out.
“He knows,” Berube said. “I didn’t say anything after the game to him, but I definitely will. We need to clean up these mistakes.”
And forget that Toronto is 9-2-1 in its past 12 visits to Winnipeg.
The strength of the goaltending of Connor Hellebuyck and balanced scoring — Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers and Neal Pionk all have 10 points, while five other Jets have more than six — have propelled Winnipeg to a perfect 8-0-0 record to start 2024-25. Every other NHL has lost at least once in regulation.
All of the Leafs will have to be on point on Monday, not just the Domi line.
ENTER THE STRUGGLES
No points are rewarded for identifying one problem on the power play, but the Leafs have to start somewhere. Zone entries on the man advantage continue to perplex them.
“We’re just off by a hair every once in a while, bouncing pucks, we have to sometimes be a little smarter,” Mitch Marner said late on Saturday night. “Just chip it down low, get a hard rim or something like that and start from there and bring pressure off that.”
Said captain Auston Matthews: “Filling spots, working into space for each other and supporting the puck. I think we’re a step behind.”
Don’t be surprised if the Leafs, now 3-for-30, fail to score on the power play against the Jets. Winnipeg was seventh in the NHL on the kill before games on Sunday at 87.5% (14-for-16).
LOOSE LEAFS
Berube acknowledged he called Marner’s number too often in Boston. Marner played 26 minutes and 12 seconds, the most ice time he has had in one game in more than two years. “I overused him,” Berube said. “With the penalty kill and overtime, it got a little extended and that’s on me to try to work that (out) a little bit more. I have to not use him so much on the penalty kill, but he is an extremely good penalty killer.” … We’ll be curious to see where Berube goes with the goaltending now that Joseph Woll is back. The performance by Anthony Stolarz, who made 30 saves in Boston, was not an issue in the loss. Has Stolarz done enough to be the guy for now, or does Berube plan to use a rotation? “(Stolarz) has earned it, he has played extremely well, but we always have conversations about these things,” Berube said. “Rest and things like that too that go into (making the decisions on starting goalies).” … The Leafs stayed off the ice on Sunday prior to heading to Winnipeg in the afternoon. “Long travel today and an overtime game, hard-fought game,” Berube said in making the decision to not practice. “Some guys had a lot of minutes, so I think the rest will do us good. We’ll get on the ice in the morning and have a little skate before we play.” … The Toronto Marlies felt the sting of defeat for the first time on Saturday night, losing 2-1 in a shootout on the road in Belleville, putting their record at 6-0-0-1. Alex Steeves scored his 74th career goal for the Marlies, moving him into a tie for second on the franchise career list with Jeremy Williams. In first is Ryan Hamilton, who scored 94 goals for the Marlies from 2009-13. Dennis Hildeby made 33 saves in his first start for the Marlies after being returned by the Leafs.