In the midst of all of the discourse surrounding the Toronto Maple Leafs’ third line, the Leafs have found themselves a unit of a second line emerging ahead of the playoffs.
In the days following a win over the New York Rangers featuring seven combined points between the trio of Bobby McMann, John Tavares, and William Nylander, the group somehow improved on that effort and led the Leafs to a 7-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers thanks to nine combined points from the same line, and ten if you include Nylander’s power play goal. The final individual tallies were two goals and two assists for both Tavares and Nylander, and one of each from McMann.
The fact that he’s in a contract year probably helps, but Tavares turning back the clock is a hell of a success story for a guy who passed the captaincy to Auston Matthews following last season. His four-point affair against the Flyers puts him over the point-per-game park on the season, with 32 goals and 65 points in 64 games. Nylander, meanwhile, locked up his third straight 40-goal season with his two-goal performance, and McMann hit the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career.
Although McMann has been relatively streaky at points during the season, his success story is one for the ages. To go from an undrafted ECHL player at 24 years old to a 28-year-old 20-goal scorer in the NHL is quite the accomplishment, and not one many people likely saw coming. The Leafs missed him in the first round of last year’s playoffs, and although he probably wasn’t the sole missing piece to advancing past the first round, having him healthy this season will undoubtedly help their odds.
It’s also worth mentioning that Scott Laughton seems to be past the low-confidence, ‘trying-to-find-his-game’ stage of his Leafs tenure, and at this point, he just needs a bounce to go his way. He nearly had his first goal as a Leaf on Saturday in Nashville before it was disallowed, and he’s looked more engaged than ever over the past 3-4 games. His time to shine will undoubtedly come as we inch closer to the playoffs.
The Leafs will be back in action on Thursday night when they visit the San Jose Sharks.
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