Berube was looking to match size with size and it unlocked some scoring in the process.
Berube was looking to match size with size and it unlocked some scoring in the process.
The Toronto Maple Leafs found themselves in a hole early against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday night, down 2-0. This prompted head coach Craig Berube to shake up his top-six forward lines, but not in the way you might expect.
Instead of simply swapping left-wingers, Berube moved William Nylander up to the top line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. This is a tactic the Leafs have used before late in periods when they're looking for a spark, but it was a surprising move to see it so eaearly in the game. Berube moved 6-foot-3 power forward Matthew Knies to play alongside John Tavares and Max Pacioretty.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YNX3XcbpN0[/embed]
Berube explained his reasoning
"I thought in my head that if I could get Tavares with Knies and Pacioretty out there at times against the Thompson line, it's a big line, heavy line. So that was my thought a little bit and not so much use of Matthews against [them] the rest of the game, we were down. So, wanted to kind of loosen those guys up a little bit and give them some different looks. That was kind of like my thought process on it and it worked out."
And "work out" it did. After Tage Thompson's line (with Alex Tuch and Zach Benson) scored the Sabres' second goal, they were effectively neutralized by the new Tavares line. This was a key turning point in the game, as the Thompson line had been generating significant offensive pressure. Prior to the switch, they boasted a 71.19% Corsi For percentage, indicating they were controlling possession and outshooting the Leafs when they were on the ice.
The Knies-Tavares-Pacioretty trio led the Leafs with a dominant 96 percent expected-goals share, according to NaturalStatTrick.com, while outshooting their opponents 8-0 in 6:06 of ice time together at even strength. This signifies a highly effective combination that consistently generated scoring chances and limited the Sabres' opportunities.
The change also seemed to benefit the Matthews-Marner duo, who saw their expected goals percentage jump from 68 percent in 7:34 of ice time after the switch from 0 before it. This suggests that freeing them from the responsibility of shutting down the Thompson line allowed them to focus more on their offensive game.
With the Maple Leafs set to practice on Tuesday, the question now for Berube is whether he'll stick with these new lines or go back to the combinations he had before the game started. Deploying lines against the lowly Sabres compared to a top flight team like the Dallas Stars that boasts more depths suggests they probably shouldn't keep the lines. But for a team lacking offense, it might be worth exploring for an extended run.