William Nylander has taken center stage in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ second-round playoff series against the Florida Panthers.
Nylander, who has three goals and four points this round, has been a big reason the Leafs head to Sunrise for Game 3 with a 2-0 series lead. A big reason for his success is not having to face elite shutdown forwards Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart.
Those Selke Trophy finalists have taken on Toronto’s top line, which has Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Barkov has shared the ice with Matthews for 24:34 of ice time at even strength, according to naturalstattrick.com.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice may need to switch up his line matching and give Barkov and Reinhart the task of shutting down Nylander. He is tied for third in the NHL for playoff points with 13, trailing only Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid’s 14 and Dallas Stars right winger Mikko Rantanen’s 15.
Barkov praised Nylander’s play through the first two games on Friday.
“He’s always been very skilled and talented, elite goal-scorer and playmaker,” Barkov told reporters. “He’s one of those guys you have to be aware of when he’s on the ice all the time. He can create something out of nothing.”
Florida’s middle six hasn’t had an answer for Nylander’s scoring, Max Pacioretty’s physicality and complementary play and John Tavares’ domination in the faceoff dot (62.5 percent over two games).
However, shifting Barkov’s line to face Nylander’s line comes with some risks.
While there’s the chance they could neutralize the threat of Nylander’s line, it also takes Barkov away from the Matthews line.
If this change were to happen, Matthews and Marner could get more time and space offensively. Considering they’ve already outplayed Florida’s shutdown line so far, that could spell bad news for the Panthers.
Barkov’s been outscored 3-0 in 5-on-5 situations when he and Matthews are on the ice, although that’s as many goals as Nylander at even strength.
In fact, the Panthers’ first-liners have only cashed in on the power play. Barkov scored the opening goal of Game 2 on the man advantage, and Verhaeghe assisted on Seth Jones’ power-play goal in Game 1. Reinhart has no points in this series.
Verhaeghe has an additional assist on a Bennett goal that came in Game 1 during the late extra-attacker situation.
This matchup alteration could also hinder Florida’s scoring. In terms of production, the Panthers’ line of Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell and Brad Marchand has been the team’s best combination – even though Nylander’s faced them more than any other forwards in Games 1 and 2.
Whatever decision the Panthers make, they have very little room for error. Friday’s Game 3 at home is Florida’s chance to take the spotlight away from Nylander and start the series comeback.
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