Leafs-Canucks takeaways: Nylander-Tavares-Marner falls flat, a rough night for Benoit-Myers

Joseph Woll made 23 saves on 25 shots and was stellar for the Maple Leafs, who ultimately couldn’t muster enough scoring chances to test Kevin Lankinen, who replaced an injured Thatcher Demko in the first period.

Here are six takeaways from the Maple Leafs’ 2-1 loss to the Canucks

• William Nylander, John Tavares and Mitch Marner are rightfully expected to win every matchup at 5-on-5, it’s an assembly of the game’s best talent, as Marner ranks top-five in NHL scoring, Nylander is firmly in the Rocket Richard race, while Tavares is one of the league’s most cerebral players. Instead, this line suffered through 40 minutes — Nylander flubbed a breakaway chance, while Tavares seemed a step slower than usual and was slow to react defensively. Nylander-Tavares-Marner controlled 35.6 percent of the expected goals at 5-on-5 before Craig Berube saw enough, reverting back to the tried-and-true combination of Matthew Knies, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, with Max Pacioretty joining Nylander and Tavares. Credit to Berube for making the in-game adjustment, but it was too little, too late. We’re not necessarily against the idea of splitting Matthews and Marner, at the very least, it provides the Maple Leafs with some more combinations throughout the lineup as they look to firmly entrench their optimal group in the final quarter of the year, but it was a tough evening from a star-studded line that ought to have fared much better.
• Simon Benoit and Philippe Myers struggled badly throughout the contest, which is really too bad, given that Myers played his best game of the season Thursday. Knies lost track of his assignment on Hronek’s opening goal, but Myers is out of the play, Benoit reacted way too late, while Matthews submitted a passive closeout attempt. Myers abandoned his man during Boeser’s game-winning goal, Benoit wasn’t there to react, and during 5-on-5 scenarios, they didn’t stand a chance against the Elias Pettersson line. Myers’ form has fluctuated on a game-by-game basis, whereas Benoit has really struggled throughout the year. Perhaps Brad Treliving can add a depth defender ahead of the deadline, or maybe Marshall Rifai will finally get some minutes — although it may be too late to work Rifai into a meaningful role this year.
• Morgan Rielly was outstanding during this road trip and he was rewarded with a power play goal that tied the game entering the second intermission. Rielly has been active throughout the four-game road stand, he’s been getting pucks to the net, making simpler exits and he’s not overthinking the game anymore. The entire team could use some rest, especially when you consider the scope and scale of injuries they’ve weathered across the board, but Rielly is finding his game again, which certainly bodes well for the Leafs down the home stretch of the regular season. He was Toronto’s best defenceman this evening.
• Oliver Ekman-Larsson recorded a primary assist and worked well off Rielly, but his high-sticking penalty in the third period on Kiefer Sherwood directly led to the game-winning goal. It was completely unnecessary and it was his 20th minor penalty of the season. Ekman-Larsson’s mean streak is a good thing, but undisciplined penalties will come back to haunt teams, and it was arguably the difference tonight. He was often caught out of position and let the Canucks get behind him in rush scenarios too easily. The rest could be beneficial for everyone.
• Pontus Holmberg isn’t cut out for a top-nine role, the puck dies on his stick way too often, he’s been a negative in this space far too often. He also leads the Maple Leafs with 20 drawn penalties, for a power play that has ranked within the NHL’s top-five since January 1. If you’re Berube, how do you reconcile this issue? It calls into question to Toronto’s constant depth scoring issues, and how the team will resolve this matter at the deadline. It doesn’t seem like Holmberg’s ability to draw a whistle will overcome his offensive flaws — it often feels like Bobby McMann thrives in spite of him.
• This is about the season overall: I’m taking the glass half-full view of things. Toronto has weathered several injuries to key players throughout the year, this is the best goaltending it has received during the Matthews era, all of the star players are healthy again, while Knies and McMann have been genuine unsung heroes. Berube has installed his system, which in theory, should lend itself well to the playoffs. Considering the constant change, injuries and state of the Atlantic, Leafs fans should allow themselves some room for optimism entering the 4 Nations Face-Off break.