Jilted defencemen hate it. Risk-averse coaches fear its potential downside. But a power play manned by five forwards looked like an awfully explosive weapon for the聽Maple Leafs聽on Sunday night.
It wasn鈥檛 simply that 海角社区官网went 3-for-6 with the man advantage in a聽6-2 Game 1 win聽over the Senators, more than聽quelling fears of a repeat of last year鈥檚 1-for-21 performance in a seven-game series loss to the Bruins.
It was how 海角社区官网scored its power-play goals. If its three successful power plays had one thing in common, it was urgency.
The Leafs scored nine seconds into their first power-play opportunity, John Tavares banging in the rebound of a William Nylander wrister.
They scored three seconds into their third, Nylander walking into an empty slot with a 5-on-3 manpower edge and burying a crafty sweeper over Linus Ullmark鈥檚 blocker.
And even when 海角社区官网had built a 5-2 lead in the third period, 海角社区官网coach Craig Berube didn鈥檛 succumb to the urge to be more conservative and send out a defenceman with Toronto鈥檚 top power-play unit. Berube stuck with the five-forward configuration, just as he has for most of the back half of the season 鈥 this in stark contrast to predecessor Sheldon Keefe, whose experiments with five-forward schemes rarely lasted long.
On Sunday Toronto鈥檚 all-forwards power-play unit, to its credit, didn鈥檛 veer from the game plan, even with the luxury of that 5-2 lead. Tavares won a faceoff. Point man Mitch Marner filtered a shot through a crowd. Auston Matthews tried to bang in that rebound. And Matthew Knies collected Matthews鈥檚 rebound in the goal mouth and slapped one in from close range.
For Berube, who came to 海角社区官网preaching a straightforward style that prioritized north-south directness over east-west dilly-dallying, it was a tailor-made post-season opener. If the Leafs, at their least effective, have occasionally been guilty of overpassing their way through power plays while posing minimal net-front threat, Sunday showed a team that understood the assignment.
鈥淭he power play did a good job of just getting it to the net right away 鈥 We鈥檝e just got to keep doing the same thing,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking to attack right away. That鈥檚 a good mentality, in my opinion. Playoffs, pucks to the net, pucks to the net. That鈥檚 what you鈥檝e got to think about.鈥
鈥淧ucks to the net鈥 hasn鈥檛 always been the theme of Maple Leafs power plays in the playoffs. Last year, when 海角社区官网scored just once in 21 power-play opportunities in a seven-game first-round loss to the Bruins, the Leafs only managed to place 35 shots on goal with the man advantage in the series 鈥 an average of five power-play shots on goal a game. Sunday night alone their six power plays yielded 11 shots on goal, which spoke to the unit-wide focus on the game plan.
Certainly the Game 1 dominance underlined a point of emphasis for the Senators, who聽
鈥淥bviously if you give them so many power plays, their skill will take over,鈥 Tim St眉tzle, the Senators forward, told reporters in Ottawa. 鈥淭hey have a lot of good players who can make plays 鈥 We鈥檝e just got to stay out of the box.鈥
It was one game, for sure. And it鈥檚 worth remembering that coming into the series it was the Maple Leafs flagging the danger of allowing the Senators to draw a favourable whistle. Ottawa led the NHL in power-play opportunities and power-play goals during the regular season; the Leafs ranked 20th in power-play chances and 11th in power-play goals. St眉tzle co-led the league with former Leaf Nazem Kadri in drawing penalties, with Senators captain Brady Tkachuk ranking fourth. The top Leaf in the category, Pontus Holmberg, ranked 17th.
To say Sunday was an outlier is probably fair. In 82 regular-season games, the Leafs聽.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 get complacent. It鈥檚 one game. Obviously we鈥檙e happy with the result. But we know we have to be better,鈥 Matthews said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no sitting back for us.鈥
If there鈥檚 no sitting back, in Game 1 there was very little settling for power-play passes around the perimeter 鈥 an appealing development for a team that has made a habit of such in previous post-seasons. Instead, there were five forwards with what seemed to be one common goal 鈥 to put the puck in the net as promptly as possible. It鈥檒l be a performance that鈥檚 difficult to repeat; 海角社区官网was a combined 0-for-10 on the power play in the final four games of the regular season, which speaks to the hot-and-cold nature of special teams. But if nothing else, Sunday set a standard 鈥 what the Leafs鈥 power play can be when it鈥檚 at its best.
鈥淚 think special teams are going to be a very important part of playoffs. I feel like the people that win at the end of the year are usually the ones with the best special teams,鈥 Knies said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a good start, but we鈥檝e got to keep it going. It鈥檚 just one game. We鈥檝e got to kind of forget about that one and keep moving forward.鈥
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