Marner gets a point and Maple Leafs not so special teams: Game 3 +/-

Another night without William Nylander. Is that going to be the excuse this year for the Leafs? Will it be that Mitch Marner was rushed back from a high ankle sprain? Or is it just a one-game deficit and it’s still premature to write off the Leafs given that they hung with the Bruins for most of the game? Here’s a look at the Game 3 +’s and -‘s that hint at whether optimism is still allowed.

+plus

• Marner picking up a point is a plus. The season could not have ended any worse for Mitch and the first two games of the playoffs were a continuation of Marner not showing up in the playoffs. I’m not sure you can say that his 23 minutes of hockey that had countering 40.63 CF%, and 65.08 xGF% were good enough to say his slump is behind him but hoping that a highlight reel assist got the monkey off his back is allowed.
• The Leafs got their best version of Jake McCabe so far in the playoffs and if he can keep that going the Leafs’ defence will look a little better when you factor in that playoff Morgan Rielly is also in full effect. McCabe had 61.11 CF%, 100 GF%, and 81.11 xGF% at 5v5.
• Bertuzzi and Jarnkrok deserve a lot of love and if there is one thing that the Leafs need during the playoffs it is greasy goals. Bertuzzi does that naturally and got on the scoresheet with one, but Jarnkrok deserves some credit for his aggressive attack on the net as well. Bertuzzi had a .87 ixG to lead the Leafs and Jarnkrok was second with .57.
• Samsonov wasn’t perfect tonight but a .909 save percentage and .857 HDSV% is what is needed to give the Leafs offence a chance to win games.

-minus

• What more can be said beyond 0 for 5 on the powerplay and the Bruins going 2 for 3 on their powerplays? I guess getting only six shots on those five powerplays is worth acknowledging as an exclamation point on the performance. The two teams were tied 2-2 at 5v5, so while it was even strength that was Toronto’s undoing against Boston during the regular season, it is definitely special teams that are crushing them now.
• Some will blame Edmundson (3 all-strengths goals against, 2 5v5) and some will blame Liljegren (2 5v5 goals against) but no matter who you are blaming the pairing is not working against the Bruins and with a reasonable Plan B sitting in the press box (T.J. Brodie) it seems insane that three games of this disastrous pairing have gone on. Swapping Edmundson out to bring in Brodie for a fresh look on the penalty kill would make the most sense but given that the powerplay has struggled I’m sure sitting Liljegren and letting someone like McCabe have a go with the powerplay wouldn’t be a terrible option either. Once they get sorted out the Leafs can move on to the issues with Lyubushkin.
• After the Leafs dictated the pace on the road things have taken a turn for the Bruins now that the series has moved to Toronto.