Islanders @ Leafs - Sept. 30th, 7:30pm - Prime

[CarltonTheBear]

Through 2 games and despite only starting a single shift in the defensive end the McKenna-Tavares-Nylander line is down 9-31 in shot attempts, 6-16 in actual shots on net, 0-2 in goals, and have a xGF% of just 16%.

Obviously, not ideal. I think JT's looked very slow. Maybe the shorter training camp wasn't great for him. I dunno how soon Hiller wants to wait before reconfiguring the top-6 but I wonder if the move might be to put Tavares on the wing for a bit and Roslovic at 2C just for the speed.

 

[dappleganger]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2105488572187074756

He was very good tonight and I believe he will be very good if not overused. That said, he definitely is still here because no one would take him.

I would really do close to a 50/50 split with the goaltenders.

 

[YYZ]

Through 2 games and despite only starting a single shift in the defensive end the McKenna-Tavares-Nylander line is down 9-31 in shot attempts, 6-16 in actual shots on net, 0-2 in goals, and have a xGF% of just 16%.

Obviously, not ideal. I think JT's looked very slow. Maybe the shorter training camp wasn't great for him. I dunno how soon Hiller wants to wait before reconfiguring the top-6 but I wonder if the move might be to put Tavares on the wing for a bit and Roslovic at 2C just for the speed.

L2 and PP1 are struggling. Common denominator is JT. I know coaches want to defer to a vet of JT's stature, but man is he ever slow out there.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I would really do close to a 50/50 split with the goaltenders.

In a perfect world, maybe. But there's also the reality that Stolarz turns 33 in January and has averaged just 23 starts a season over the past 5 years. Something like 60/40 is probably best case scenario.

 

[herman]

L2 and PP1 are struggling. Common denominator is JT. I know coaches want to defer to a vet of JT's stature, but man is he ever slow out there.

Basically. All his puck touches are converting into turnovers or killing the play chain in some fashion, and then the line has to revert to DZ play. I also think strictly OZ starts are sub optimal for rush players because there's no runway to build up speed unless it's after a swirl in the DZ. Paul is better suited for OZ starts to fire up a blender on the cycle in there.

I'm loathe to break up L3 that's working so well, but it has all the useful, flexible parts, and the bottom group does have the legs for more minutes even if they don't have the offensive punch. A balanced approach is in order.