Jim Hiller has a lineup puzzle on his hands, but the bigger issue would have been the mood around the Toronto Maple Leafs if they had not stormed back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Nashville Predators on Wednesday morning.
Instead of carrying a 1-3-0 start into a difficult road trip, the Leafs head out at .500 after another game that followed a familiar script: a sluggish opening, then a late surge powered by the team’s high-end talent. This time, though, the comeback did more than just rescue two points. It gave the group some momentum, and it included Gavin McKenna’s first goal and assist of his career.
None of that happened without Hiller scrambling the lines after the slow start.
He ended up using seven different line combinations that logged at least two minutes together at five-on-five, and the most effective group was the revamped first line of William Nylander, Auston Matthews, and Jack Roslovic. In just 3:15 together, that trio controlled play. At the other end of the spectrum, the original top six that began the night never got going, with Kirill Marchenko again unable to click with Matthews and the second line posting the worst shot differential of any combination.
That leaves Hiller with a real decision about how to deploy his forwards, especially when it comes to Matthews’ winger situation. Marchenko has the kind of individual tools that can work in the right setting - puck carrying, rush offense, and the ability to use his size down low - but the fit with Matthews has been shaky.
A move to the second line could be the practical answer, but it would also bring a different kind of attention. If Hiller shifts Marchenko there on a permanent basis, it will look like the new addition has already been pushed down the depth chart. And if he struggles alongside John Tavares and whichever winger joins him, that chatter will only grow.
The coach kept mixing and matching on Tuesday night, and Marchenko was the player who bounced around the most. He logged 8:39 at five-on-five with his original line, then picked up shifts with Matthews and Nylander for 1:55, with Tavares and Easton Cowan for 1:29, and with Tavares and Roslovic for 1:12.
There was at least one small positive in the shuffle: McKenna, Nick Paul, and Colton Sissons looked solid together in a limited look. Even so, the cleanest solution may be the one that creates the most noise. Hiller could keep Matthews with Nylander and Roslovic, slide Tavares in with Cowan and Marchenko, and move McKenna to the third line.
It’s not a quiet fix, but it may be the only one that helps the lineup settle.
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Matthews has opened the season with five points in four games, a pace that suggests he is settling in fast after a stretch where his level of play was under the microscope. The bigger picture for Toronto is simple: if this version of Matthews is here to stay, the Leafs suddenly have a much better reason to believe their top player is moving back toward the form that once made him one of the leagues most dominant forces. [Read more 🡒]
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What made the day stand out even before the puck dropped was McKenna showing up for the optional morning skate, a small detail that did not go unnoticed by fans or media around the team. Auston Matthews even suggested McKenna could be in line for more after getting that first one, and for a player still settling into his NHL footing, that kind of confidence can matter as much as the box score. [Read more 🡒]