What power play problems?
The month of December has seen the Toronto Maple Leafs struggle mightily while on the man advantage, perplexing many observers given the team's plethora of offensive talent. Heading into Thursday, Toronto was sporting a woeful 7.7 percent conversion rate on the power play this month, good for 29th in the NHL.
Needless to say, things looked bleak in that department for Toronto after a red-hot start to the year.
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However, the Leafs put their power play woes behind them in a 6-1 demolition of the visiting Florida Panthers on Thursday, going a perfect 3-for-3 with the man advantage. Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Mitch Marner all scored power-play goals for the Leafs in the victory, with each marker coming in distinct fashion.
Matthews' power play goal, his first of two tallies on the night, came late in the first period. The 21-year-old found himself wide open in front of goal and on the end of a beautiful cross-ice Marner feed, requiring an easy tap-in.
Matthews turned provider for the Leafs' next power-play goal, a Tavares marker early in the third period. Like his young teammate, Tavares also scored twice on the night, but his power-play goal came in a different manner than Matthews'.
Set up in front of goal, Tavares pounced on a rebound after Matthews' shot from the faceoff dot was stopped by Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo. The 28-year-old backhanded the puck past the sprawling netminder to give his team a 4-0 lead.
Toronto's third and final power play goal of the night might have been the oddest, as Marner clearly did not intend to put the puck past substitute Florida goaltender James Reimer.
With Matthews and Tavares each a goal away from a hat trick, Marner received the puck to Reimer's left and slid it back into the middle. It appeared as though Marner was trying to find either Matthews or Tavares with a quick pass, but his effort was unintentionally redirected into the net by Panthers defenceman MacKenzie Weegar.
Marner's goal fooled many in Scotiabank Arena as Tavares was next to Weegar when the puck was deflected into the net, leading some in the crowd to toss their hats onto the ice in celebration of a hat trick that never happened.
Despite scoring, Marner — third in the league in assists — appeared visibly disappointed to be credited with the goal.
When you accidentally score. pic.twitter.com/o0pVLlt349
— NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) December 21, 2018
With Matthews, Tavares and Marner all notching goals while their team was on a man advantage on Thursday, the Leafs have now scored three or more power play goals in a game three times this season. They'll surely be hoping that this game, and not the previous few weeks, is a sign of things to come.