Maple Leafs Notebook: The case for splitting a healthy Matthews and Marner

SUNRISE, Fla. — If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

You don’t lose your job due to injury.

A couple of dusty ol’ sporting clichés find themselves in direct opposition when it comes to Auston Matthews, who is targeting a healthy return to game action sometime this week in Florida.

Matthews was a full participant in team practice Tuesday for the first time since being sidelined on Nov. 3 — and jetting to Munich, Germany, for a handful of days — to take care of an undisclosed upper-body injury.

The Toronto Maple Leafs captain led the team stretch and took reps alongside leading goal-scorer William Nylander but pumped the brakes on the idea of rushing his return Wednesday against the Florida Panthers.

“I felt really good but might need maybe one or two (practices) to really get my legs and lungs back under me,” Matthews told reporters, before hopping on a southbound charter.

Head coach Craig Berube emphasized caution, which has been the prevailing theme of the superstar’s three-week break from full activity: “He looked fine and he felt fine, but not having a lot of practice time, it's a little concerning.”

The coach has stated simply that when any injured player tells him he’s good to go, he’ll put him in the lineup. Not before then.

The tea leaves suggest Saturday night in Tampa Bay — against a worthy but less physical divisional opponent — is the smarter and more likely return date here.

A massive relief on Matthews’ pressure to play hockey has been the Maple Leafs’ (and Marlies’) ability to do so without the services of a 69-goal man.

Toronto has ripped off a remarkable 7-1-0 run since Matthews sidelined himself with an injury that’s been nagging since training camp, largely because they have been the stingiest even-strength team during that span.

And because their healthy star forwards — Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and William Nylander — have been fantastic, drumming up timely goals in tight games.

So, how do the lines shake out when Matthews does return?

Well, judging by Tuesday’s practice lines, it looks like Tavares and Marner will remain a pair, and Matthews will link with Nylander and Pontus Holmberg when the time comes.

“I felt really reluctant to put Marner and Matthews back together,” Berube said.

“We will see, but I like the looks of what I had today with them. They had a good practice, and they looked pretty good and pretty comfortable. I know that Auston has played with Willy and [Holmberg] before.”

This is the wisest course of action, despite Matthews and Marner skating as an inseparable unit from the moment training camp opened until the injury caught up with the top-line centre.

Matthews and Marner have been just fine this season, tilting the ice to the tune of 60.9 per cent expected goals and outscoring the competition 9-6 at five-on-five, despite getting fed the tough matchups.

Tavares and Marner, however, are on fire — offensively and defensively.

The duo has rekindled some of that 2018-19 magic and brought power forward Bobby McMann along for the ride.

Since reuniting, Marner and Tavares have dominated their competition, outscoring them 4-1 and generating 59.4 per cent of expected goals five-on-five.

Bucking conventional logic, both of Toronto’s special teams have seen improvement without Matthews, too.

The results are even more impressive when you consider the shutdown role Marner and Tavares have played in victories over top lines headlined by Alex Ovechkin, Jack Eichel, and Connor McDavid during Matthews’ absence.

It doesn’t look like Berube will mess with a good thing.

Nor should he.

Spread the wealth, and let Marner and Tavares cook.

Leafs catch Panthers at perfect time

While the Maple Leafs co-own the NHL’s longest active playoff streak (with the Bruins), they have never won the regular-season Atlantic Division title.

Now’s their chance.

The Florida Panthers began their campaign mimosa-ing through a Stanley Cup hangover, jumping to a dominant 11-3-1 record out of the gate.

But the Cats are now floundering through a 1-6-0 slide and trail the Leafs, who hold a game in hand, by three points in the standings race.

Toronto flies in hot off a four-game win streak; Florida is sitting home cold, losing its past four in regulation by a combined score of 20-9. Yikes.

The greatest difference between the Atlantic’s top two teams? Goaltending.

Toronto is not only dressing the Eastern Conference’s leader in save percentage (ex-Panther Anthony Stolarz, .927) but also the league leader in goals-against average among goalies with at least six starts (Third Star of the Week Joseph Woll, 2.00).

Toronto ranks first in the East and fourth overall with a .913 team save percentage.

Florida rates 29th overall with a concerning .876.

As excellent as Woll has been lately, Stolarz, who has been resting since Nov. 16, should get the start. Toronto doesn’t need him to stay dormant this long.

“He has never once said he is tired or overworked. He is in a good spot right now,” Berube said of Stolarz.

“We have rotated the goalies pretty well. They have had enough time in between games to rest and make sure they are ready to do the job in net.”

Robertson can’t score

Nick Robertson’s stint in the top six — and the goal-scorer’s best chance to rid himself of the snake venom — appears to be coming to an end once the Maple Leafs get some healthy forwards back.

With Matthews back at practice, Robertson was bumped to Fraser Minten’s third line for reps.

The pre-season phenom is stuck on one garbage-time goal over 18 appearances. He’s had one apparent goal called back due to goalie interference and has pinged a couple posts.

Though he leads the Leafs in drawn penalties (nine) and delivers unquestionable effort nightly, Robertson’s main reason for being drafted was his ability to finish.

“I just got to keep plugging away, not worrying about the past, and just kind of taking it game by game,” he said.

When Robertson scored 14 goals in 56 games last season, he was converting at a 14.6 shooting percentage.

That has plummeted to a measly 3.7 per cent. Thing is, he’s not getting space to pull the trigger.

In 13 of his 18 games, Robertson has just one shot on net.

“It's going to go in eventually for him,” Berube said. “We all feel for him. And we want him to put the puck in the net.”

One-Timers: Winger Matthew Knies (upper body) participated in his first practice since the controversial Zach Whitecloud hit last Wednesday in a 3-0 win over Vegas. He wore a red no-contact sweater and is not expected to play Wednesday. … Depth defenceman Dakota Mermis (broken jaw) also participated in his first team skate since suffering his injury prior to the season’s puck drop. … The lovable Nikita Grebenkin is trending to be the odd man out whenever Matthews returns. … Neither Max Domi nor David Kämpf (lower body) have returned to the ice, nor will they travel to Florida. … Defenceman Jake McCabe skipped Tuesday’s skate due to maintenance. … Toronto’s adopted Panthers — Stolarz, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Steven Lorentz — will receive their Cup rings Wednesday.

Maple Leafs' projected lines Wednesday in Florida:
McMann – Tavares – Marner
Robertson – Holmberg – W. Nylander
Grebenkin – Minten – A. Nylander
Steeves – Dewar – Lorentz

Rielly – Ekman-Larsson
McCabe – Tanev
Benoit – Timmins

Stolarz
Woll