Those assignments included head-to-head matchups against the top lines of Tampa Bay, Florida, and Vancouver. The 23-year-old Dermott not only passed the test but scored well on it, playing probably his best hockey as an NHLer.
In the Leafs’ final game before the 2019-20 regular season shut down for good, while they did carry the majority of the shot attempts, Tampa Bay’s Kucherov, Point and Palat line split the shots on goal and were held scoreless at 5v5 in 10 minutes head-to-head with Dermott and Holl.
The week previous, the pairing matched up against Petersson, Miller, and Toffoli with nearly identical results — while the pair was out-possessed, the shots were even and the Canucks’ big line was held scoreless at even strength in 12+ minutes head-to-head.