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5 Takeaways: CAR 3-TOR 4 (OT)

 

Travis Dermott (Toronto Maple Leafs, Twitter.com)

    A freak injury to superstar center Auston Matthews overshadowed an impressive Leafs victory over the East's best team, the Carolina Hurricanes.
    Here are my 5 takeaways from a thriller in Scotiabank Arena. 

1. Matthews' Injury Scare

    Yet another awesome performance from Matty came about on Monday night, but a knee to the head late in regulation had all of Leafs Nation checking their phones with bated breath.
    Up to that point, it had been a dominant game from Matthews. A two-goal night sealed his sixth consecutive season with at least 30 goals. Oh yeah, and he's only played six seasons. Impressive.
    He was good in the faceoff dot and his excellent play on the first line overshadowed a poor performance from the second line at even strength. 
    The injury didn't look nearly as bad as Tavares' injury in the playoffs last year, but it was eerily similar. The next two weeks are crucial to the Leafs' season. If they can continue their hot streak and win the majority of their games, they would put themselves in a good position to win the Atlantic Division, giving themselves a much more simple first round playoff opponent. If they stumble, a first round matchup with either of the the juggernaut Florida teams awaits. Unfortunately, it looks like they'll have to tackle the next part of the season without their best player.

2. Marner's Dominance Continues

    Marner is in the midst of one of the greatest 10-game stretches in Maple Leafs history. Not since World War II had a Leaf scored in 8 consecutive games, but Marner has just done it. He's doing stuff that Hall of Famers do. 
    Usually billed as pass-first, but in a negative connotation, since emerging from quarantine, Marner had very clearly been putting in an effort to score goals. If he gets the puck in the high slot, he would usually hesitate and wait for a net-front drive. Now, he is simply putting it on net to great results.
    The two clutch goals tonight helped him boost his goal tally over the last 8 games. He now has 10 goals and 19 points in 8 games.
    There was a recent online debate about whether Marner was actually capable of scoring 30 goals in a season. I'll go ahead and say it right now. He absolutely is.

3. Second Line Blues

    Due to just how good the first line has been, nobody is complaining about the struggles of the second line at 5-on-5. Sure, Tavares and Nylander contributed to the power play goal, but at even strength, it has been a bit of a rut for the two of them alongside Alex Kerfoot. 
    It wouldn't be too bad if it was just them being outscored, but they are now getting heavily out-chanced at even strength. Over the last 11 games, Willy is -8 and Tavares is -10, numbers that just don't make sense when you consider how good the Leafs have been over that period.
    They are still passing the eye test, at least from my view, but the results speak for themselves. If they can find a bit more directness and apply pressure to other teams' top lines, this should correct itself. For now, though, it is a worrying trend.

4. Mrazek Outduels Freddy

    If October was Frederik Andersen's revenge game, Petr Mrazek got his own serving of revenge with an excellent performance on Monday night.
    Mrazek has been much better as of late, using his trademark aggressive style to scare shooters. From my limited experience of watching Mrazek before this year, he either had composure, aggressiveness or neither. Currently, he seems to be playing with both. 
    It's becoming less crazy that Mrazek could take 50% of the starts as the Leafs head down the stretch.

5. Are the Leafs a top-3 team?

    I didn't write my power rankings this week, because the All-Star break meant that there wasn't much hockey to judge the teams on (my power rankings will be up next week). I am constantly changing my power rankings after watching games or reading about what happened. Following the Leafs' win over Carolina, I briefly felt like putting them in third place, just behind Florida and Colorado. However, I still think Carolina are better than the Leafs, despite the result here.
    Either way, this Leafs team is on pace to be the best regular season Maple Leafs squad in their long history. Though there are still some concerns, the Leafs have a deep forward corps, efficient special teams units, a dynamic goaltending tandem and a fairly steady blueline. This team is built for success, which will make it all the more depressing when they lose in the first round again.

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