'It's Been Stagnant, Trying To Find A Spark': Why Craig Berube Moved Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Matthew Knies To The Maple Leafs' Top Power-Play Unit Against Penguins
Although they didn't score, Toronto's top power-play unit looked a lot better once they mixed up the personnel.
Special teams have most certainly been a problem for the Toronto Maple Leafs through the first three games of the regular season.
Toronto is 0-for-9 with the man-advantage and has given up 14 power-play opportunities in the same span. But Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube tried something new in the team's 4-2 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB_7dh4AA4k[/embed]
Midway through the team's first power play, Berube took Morgan Rielly and Max Pacioretty (who was subbing for an ill John Tavares who did not play) midway through the first session and replaced them with Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Matthew Knies.
Why the change?
"So far it's been stagnant. We all know that. Just moving some guys around tonight. Just trying to find a spark, something different," Berube explained. "I thought it got better in the third. Some opportunities. But we got to, we got to get some, to work on it."
The power play generated a lot more chances at the net, particularly with Ekman-Larsson on the point. The Leafs generated 9 shot attempts on the net with Ekman-Larsson on the ice compared to two with Rielly while on the power play.
"He's run power plays for a long time in Arizona and stuff. Shoots the puck from the point. You know, he establishes that shot. Pretty fluid in a walk in the line and seeing the ice," Berube said of what Ekman-Larsson brings to the unit.
Swapping Knies with Pacioretty wasn't a surprise given that Knies had already shown a flair for the offensive early in the game. Pacioretty was limited to just three shifts in the third period and was taken off the club's power play altogether when the club made the switch in personnel, going with two defensemen on PP2 (Rielly and Conor Timmins).
The Maple Leafs have a couple of days of practice where special teams will no doubt be a focal point. If Tavares returns from illness he may come back to PP1 but one thing that seems to not be changing is Ekman-Larsson. There's a good chance the Leafs run with that for a while. He led all players with 25:02 of ice time on Saturday and appears to have won Berube's trust early on.
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