Maple Leafs play the matchups, defeat Bruins

Evan Sporer

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Maple Leafs play the matchups, defeat Bruins image

If the Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins do really lock horns in the postseason, one of the major tasks for Toronto head coach Mike Babcock and his staff will be how to shut down or, at the very least, limit Boston's top line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak.

On Saturday night at the Air Canada Centre, Babcock's answer was a juggled lineup sans its biggest star, and the returns were good enough, as Toronto earned a 4-3 victory to temporarily pass the Bruins in the standings.

While the Maple Leafs were without Auston Matthews, it presumably meant William Nylander taking his spot at center, and Josh Leivo slotting in on the fourth line. While that was true, the pieces around them were shuffled, with Babcock assembling a line of Patrick Marleau, Nazem Kadri, and Leo Komarov to go head-to-head with the Bergeron line with the benefit of last change on home ice.

Marchand and Kadri each scored twice, while Nylander's new line with Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman also produced two goals, just enough offense to buoy Toronto to a victory.

"We want Mitch [Marner] to generate offense, and if you play against [Bergeron's] line, we had just done the pre-scouts, and no one had generated any offense them," Babcock said. We were trying to figure out how to get two lines to create offense and have a saw-off."

The question of who to deploy against the Bergeron line is a central one for Babcock: He used Auston Matthews against its in a strength-on-strength move in their past matchup, and the Bergeron line scored twice and the Matthews line was a non-factor in a 4-1 Boston victory. The line also was dominant in terms of the shot share, each player with an attempts differential of seven or higher (with Marchand serving a suspension, Danton Heinen skated with Bergeron and Pastrnak, and had two assists).

Perhaps in a preview of what could come if these teams meet in the postseason, Babcock elected to specifically group three forwards together to go head-to-head with that line, and while it scored twice, it was actually Kadri's line that controlled possession at five-on-five (though both of Kadri's goals came on the power play).

It also set up a more favorable matchup for the Nylander line, who produced the other two Maple Leafs goals, including the game-winner with just over a minute to play in regulation.

Mitch Marner scored the other goal, his sixth in his past eight games. It came going up against the David Krejci line, after it was Bergeron's line that played pretty exclusively against the Leafs' top scoring line in the prior contest.

"We did well," Kadri said of his new line. "It was a bit of a tough start. They didn't have a whole lot of zone time, they're just special players and are able to capitalize on a couple of errors, and that's what they did early on there.

"As the game went on, we started to control the pace a little bit more, and got on the offensive side of things and forced them to play a little more defense."

Bruins closing in on Rick Nash?

Less than 36 hours before the Feb. 26 NHL trade deadline, the Bruins are reportedly in the market and the front-runner to acquire New York Rangers forward Rick Nash, according to multiple reports.

The Rangers have made it known that they're going to be sellers heading into Monday, and as recently as Thursday traded forward Michael Grabner to the rival New Jersey Devils.

MORE: NHL trade rumors: Deadline date, top targets, latest news as trade talks heat up

Nash is considered one of the top rental forwards on the market, and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported the Bruins emerged 

Reports have also indicated the biggest hurdle for the Bruins is figuring out how to fit Nash under the cap, a potential holdup in any deal.

Evan Sporer