The Maple Leafs are 0-for-3 in each of their last two games with the man advantage and Mitch Marner’s flirtation with a defensive role has this power-play look making a lot sense.
WASHINGTON — The Toronto Maple Leafs trotted out a new look to their power play on Saturday ahead of their game against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.
Mitch Marner took Rasmus Sandin’s spot on the point and Michael Bunting moved over from the second unit to the first to present a five-forward look with their man-advantage.
“It just puts skill sets in different spots so hopefully that’s something we can build on and be better than we were the other night,” Maple Leafs captain John Tavares said of the scheme. “I still think over the course of the season we’d like to be a little more consistent.”
The Maple Leafs went 0-for-3 on the power play in a 3-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday and had their 15-game points streak snapped. Toronto also went 0-for-3 in their 7-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday.
The key for the Maple Leafs, should they choose to utilize this attack, is Marner.
Earlier this season, the Thornhill, Ontario native had been used at times in certain situations as another defenseman, primarily when the team was pressing for a goal.
“I think just the way he moves and thinks the game, he’s extremely shifty,” Auston Matthews said of Marner on the point. “He’s very deceptive so he definitely doesn’t look out of place.”
Marner’s utilization in all aspects of his game allows for Toronto to flirt with this idea. Used in all special teams situations this season, his ability to recover the puck should things go wrong mitigates the risk, albeit it’s still a risky look.
In training camp, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe explained why he talked about using Marner as a defenseman in certain situations this season.
“Whether we’re trying to score a goal, playing from behind or whatever the case might be that we might give him some opportunity there just to see what it looks like,” Keefe said of his discussions with Marner at the time. “It’s something we’ll continue to look at through the pre-season and make a determination from there on how we might use it.”
Bunting skated in the bumper position and is ready for the challenge should Keefe elect to use the scheme.
“We have to make sure we’re good, I’m sure they’re going to be on the rush knowing there’s no D out there,” he said. “I think we’re going to be fine and I’m looking forward to it.”
While Bunting sounded sure of the deployment, Keefe cautioned that he hasn’t made a decision about whether or not to go with it on Saturday. The team didn’t practice on Friday and a morning skate may not be enough.
Toronto did do one rush on the power-play at the end of the skate with the traditional look that saw Rasmus Sandin quarterback the unit.
But now that Toronto has sustained their first regulation loss in 16 games, it’s allowed Keefe to tinker once again. Although Toronto’s lineup remains unchanged, offense from the power play might be enough to get the Leafs back on track.
“The power play hasn’t been good enough for the last month or so, so we have to start looking at options.”
The Leafs finished last season with the NHL’s best power play. They currently sit 11th at 23.8 percent heading into Saturday’s games.