At the beginning of the Maple Leafs 4-3 OT win over the Boston Bruins, I thought it was odd that Mike Babcock had switched Mitch Marner and William Nylander. I worried about how the Leafs were going to keep up with Boston’s depth and not lose out on depth. If only one line was able to produce, and it went up against the Bergeron line, the team wasn’t going to succeed.
Babcock’s solution was much more complicated than rolling four lines and it was brilliant.
Babcock and his coaching staff get an A+ for their effort and creativity last night because they were able to have their best matchup line (Matthews and Marner), while also maximizing Nylander’s time with the top line.