We’ll probably never know exactly what is ailing Matthews. It’s definitely something. The guy isn’t just going to throw his hands up and phone it in during the playoffs.
Knowing this, I think the best we can expect from him is to tread water and cancel out one of Florida’s top defensive centers, thus allowing other Leafs lines to draw a better matchup. Win faceoffs and try to hide the gimpiness from the other team as much as possible. Try to pass it off as just being snakebitten and overdue to bust out – that keeps Florida honest and from cheating on him. Even if they suspect he is limited, they still have to smother him and continue taking away his space or he’ll burn them – even a gimpy Matthews can pot a few goals if you leave him wide open too many times. If Matthews can hold his own, then it’s up to the rest of the core to pick up the slack.
Marner, Willy, and JT need to produce more to compensate for the loss of Matthews sniping. Others like Knies and Patches need to just keep doing what they are doing.
I’m not worried. I hope they take the next game. I don’t want the suspense of a 6 or 7 game series. Let’s finish this shit in 5.
