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Leafs sticking with Matthews and Marner together for Game 5

4 0
15.05.2025

The Maple Leafs practised at Ford Performance Centre on Tuesday.

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Auston Matthews is goalless through four games of Toronto's second-round series against Florida. Mitch Marner did not register a shot in the last two games. But Leafs coach Craig Berube is sticking with them together on the top line for Game 5 against the Panthers.

"It's not all about scoring for me and for them," the coach explained. "I mean, it's about the game, playing 200 feet, doing all the little things that are needed to be done. Yeah, I've gone away from them for a bit and it's fine, but it's not exactly what I want to see. So I put them back together. They've been a great pair for a long time."

Berube briefly split up the longtime linemates for a couple shifts on Sunday in what ended up being a 2-0 loss to Florida, which evened up the second-round series at two games each.

"Just stick to what we're doing," Marner said. "Stay patient with it. Yeah, we knew it wasn't going to be an easy series. They're a very good defensive team. They make you work for everything, so just stick with what we're doing and trust our process."

The Leafs are outscoring the Panthers 5-2 in the series with the top line of Matthews, Marner and Matthew Knies on the ice in 5-on-5 play.

But Toronto's top line could only muster two shots when on the ice together in Game 4, per NaturalStatTrick.com, despite playing mostly against the Anton Lundell line. They only allowed one Panthers shot during their almost nine minutes of 5-on-5 play, but couldn't tilt the ice in Toronto's favour.

The Panthers outshot the Leafs 37-23 in the game.

"We didn't do a good enough job of helping our D in executing coming out of the zone, and they were able to kind of sustain an O-zone pressure throughout the game," Matthews said of the team's performance on Sunday. "I thought there was times where we were better, but I think just consistently over the 60 minutes they outworked us and outplayed us in that area."

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Marner described his game as being "fine" right now. What about the lack of shots?

"Try to get yourself to better areas," he said. "I tried to get shots through last game. They did a good job blocking them. For myself, it’s about just trying to work around it. I’m trying to find sticks a lot of times, especially on power plays, to cause havoc down low and that’s what my game is."

The Panthers have been deploying the defence pair of Seth Jones (6-foot-4, 213 pounds) and

© TSN