The trio got off to a good start, assisting on Myers' first goal in over two years, before slowing down for the remainder of their 3-1 win against Seattle.
There was a lot of excitement when news broke that the Toronto Maple Leafs were putting William Nylander, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner on a line together.
The experiment, though, didn't get off to a great start.
In their first game as a trio against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday, they had a 34.86 expected goals-for percentage at five-on-five, the second-lowest among Toronto's four lines, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
They got off to a great start, being on the ice for Philippe Myers' first goal as a Maple Leaf. Marner and Tavares even assisted on it, with Marner's contribution being the 500th assist of his career.
But according to head coach Craig Berube, the trio could have handled stretches of the game better.
"I thought they were fine, but I thought they could have executed better on some situations that they didn't, that they normally would," Berube said after the team's 3-1 over the Kraken.
"Just kind of mishandled pucks and didn't execute the pass at the time, because there was opportunities for them to strike and get some opportunities, but I didn't think that they executed well enough. I think in general our team, maybe execution with the puck was a little off tonight for me."
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Even Marner echoed Berube's thoughts, adding that they had a good start to the game (contributing to Myers' goal) before tailing off.
"I think we started off well and kind of slowed down until the game went on," said the 27-year-old.
"I think we've just got to keep our foot on the gas, stick with it. We've got a lot of speed in our line. We've got to use it. A lot of skill as well, but we've just got to make a little better plays and a little clearer plays, and we need to communicate a little more to get the pucks where we want them to."
Nylander, Tavares, and Marner have 171 points combined this season with Toronto. They also are the top-three point producers on the Maple Leafs through 54 games. It's a combination of players that should have plenty of success together.
Toronto will practice on Friday, giving Nylander, Tavares, and Marner more time to iron out their chemistry ahead of their final game before the 4 Nations Face-Off. The Maple Leafs play the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.
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