Maple Leafs’ young third line shows its highs and lows in test for playoffs – Beragampengetahuan

TORONTO, Ont. — Sheldon Keefe devised a plan coming into a possible first-round playoff preview against the Florida Panthers Monday night: the Leafs coach wanted to test his young, upstart line of Matthew Knies, Nick Robertson and Pontus Holmberg.

“As coaches, we talked before the game today. I was going to put that line in some tough spots tonight on purpose to see how they could handle it,” Keefe said following the Leafs’ 6-4 win over the Panthers.

You can understand Keefe’s plan. The trio is full of potential, but each is in the middle of their longest regular season to date and they own a total of 11 playoff games on their combined resumes.

With a little over two weeks remaining in the regular season, we’re deep into the point of the year when multiple players are fighting for their spots in the playoff lineup. When Mitch Marner and Calle Järnkrok return from injury ahead of the start of the playoffs, available spots within the team’s four forward lines will be few and far between.

That’s why Keefe’s plan for the line mattered.

“I have been purposely putting them in some tough spots and having them work their way through it,” he said. “That is part of the growing pains of three first-year players all on the same line. It’s a tough opponent over there.”

Zoom out and Monday’s win over the Panthers felt like an important statement for a Leafs team missing Marner, Järnkrok, Morgan Rielly, Joel Edmundson and Timothy Liljegren to injury. There was an emphasis on the physicality the Leafs will need come the postseason. That they showed some muscle while not sacrificing the pace and firepower the team is built on was evident, too.

Zoom in and in the wake of Keefe’s plan, it was the line of Knies, Robertson and Holmberg that ended the night with more questions than answers with the playoffs on the near horizon and Marner’s return imminent.

While it feels likely the Panthers’ blue line is going to put up a sturdier effort in the playoffs, whoever they end up playing, what this line pulled off offensively shouldn’t be minimized: two goals and five points total.

Robertson’s breakaway goal opened the scoring for the Leafs and was a reminder of what Keefe called the young forward’s “game-breaking ability that you love to see.”

NICK ROBERTSON 🚨

THE KIDS STRIKE FIRST! pic.twitter.com/zAHblv29fC

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 1, 2024

And Knies’ goal came after some dogged work in the Panthers zone from the entire line.

the kids strike once again pic.twitter.com/0e6DmqPFiQ

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 2, 2024

But still, with multiple players on the line on the playoff lineup bubble, the trio showed both the highs they’re capable of and the lows that they can fall victim to as well.

Crucially, the line was on the ice for two of the Panthers’ third-period goals. After Panthers forward Sam Reinhart’s goal midway through the third period, none of Knies, Robertson and Holmberg saw the ice for the remainder of the game. The three Leafs forwards finished in the bottom of the team’s TOI on the night.

Could that be the result Keefe ultimately focuses on when looking back at his plan?

“Those are tough ones,” Robertson said of his line’s play in the third period, exhaling loudly. “I think we tried so hard to be in the right spot, and we kept talking about our (defensive zone play) all game and making sure it was right, and that was just an unfortunate part. I don’t think it was anything like we were clueless. We were in the right spot. (It was) just a tough bounce. But we’ll continue to work on that and clean that up on our line.”

How much time will this line get to clean things up and try to cement their spots in the playoff lineup?

Knies’ spot come the postseason is undoubtedly the safest. But he’s still played just seven playoff games and has looked — at times — like the grind of his first full NHL season has caught up with him.

“As for our line, I don’t think we played structured enough in the third period. I think we let loose, including myself,” Knies said. “I don’t think it was a good effort from our line.”

One takeaway from his performance against the Panthers was that he didn’t back down against 6-foot-5 Niko Mikkola after the Panthers defenceman threw a hit on Holmberg. That’s a promising step ahead of the playoffs, as Knies’ size and physicality remain underused tools of his.

“I didn’t like that hit,” Knies said, “and I just wanted to set the tone for the game.”

Knies comes to Holmberg’s defence

he gets the sole roughing call after pic.twitter.com/5wa24Gyl1d

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) April 1, 2024

Holmberg’s no-nonsense game has continued to improve as the season has chugged along. And the Leafs aren’t particularly deep at centre, with Max Domi’s move to the wing looking more and more like a permanent one. Holmberg has also spent time on the Leafs’ increasingly effective penalty kill. But as vital as a defence-first game like Holmberg’s could be in the postseason, he has never played an NHL playoff game.

As such, he remains on the bubble.

That Holmberg was on the ice for crucial goals against could be an important vote against his chances of playing his first-ever playoff game.

Then there’s the case of Robertson, whose postseason lineup spot remains a hotly debated topic. The winger is converting at a more regular rate as of late, with three goals in his last five games. For a Leafs team that averaged just two goals a game against the Panthers in the second round last season, Robertson’s goal scoring has value. He’s tied for second on the Leafs in five-on-five goals per 60 minutes (1.27) this season, per Natural Stat Trick.

Robertson’s shot can be a weapon on the Leafs power play. But the way he can turn the puck over with the man advantage and at five-on-five can also be a weapon for a team like the Panthers, too.

Mastering the defensive side of the game takes time for younger forwards. Other young Leafs forwards understand that.

“I think it takes a few reps to realize that playing the defensive side of the puck and playing on the right side of the puck leads to offense,” Bobby McMann said when asked about the learning process the line of Knies, Robertson and Holmberg is going through. “Coaches say it all the time. And maybe it gets overlooked. But once you feel it for yourself in your own play, the sequencing side of it, once you get (the puck) over the lines, and then once you’re in their zone, the offence takes over.”

But will Keefe allow this trio the time to figure out the defensive of the game when the margins are razor-thin come playoff time?

Or will those margins force the majority of the trio into the press box in a few weeks?

Moving forward, there are plenty of reasons for optimism about the future of each player.

But if Monday’s game against the Panthers was any indication, their opportunities to make a difference in the playoffs just might not come in spades this spring.

“They are three young guys who we think and hope will be in the organization for a long time,” Keefe said in a telling answer to a question about the line’s future ahead of the Leafs’ March 30 win over the Buffalo Sabres. “They are going to continue to build and grow. What comes out of these situations when you have guys injured is that you try different things and work at different things. We have seen lots of positives in it. Those are three players who are all trying to find their way in the league, but as they get more comfortable, I think there are great possibilities there. The skill sets match well. We have liked what we have seen from it. The three guys will continue to grow. Who knows what the future holds, but when we get healthy, I don’t see it as a trio.”

(Photo: Mark Blinch / NHLI via Getty Images)