Leafs put together Money Line of Marner, Matthews and Nylander but Domi, McMann and Robertson steal the show.
If Auston Matthews between William Nylander and Mitch Marner is the Maple Leafs’ newly created Money Line, then Max Domi between Bobby McMann and Nick Robertson ought to be called the Hot Line.
And each member of the Hot Line scored Wednesday night as the Leafs beat the Dallas Stars 5-3 as Domi, McMann and Robertson built momentum with some confidence-inducing offence in back-to-back games.
“Definitely one we’re happy with,” McMann said. “We found a way. We stuck with our game plan to start the game, trusted it was going to work.”
Secondary scoring has been an issue in the first part of the season, but Domi, McMann and Robertson connecting regularly can take some heat off.
“It was awesome,” Robertson said of scoring. “It felt great tonight, again, and I just want to build on it. We didn’t have the greatest start, but I am happy we bounced back. We have two big games coming up back to back, so we have to keep it going.”
As expected, the Money Line also scored, with Nylander converting a Matthews pass for the first of his two goals as the curious got a good look at what money can buy.
And for what could be just another game in December, the game was a bit of a cause célèbre, a treat for fans. The reason for the buzz: The combined average annual value of the salaries of Matthews, Nylander and Marner is $35.6-million (U.S.), making them most expensive line in hockey.
While they play together plenty on power plays, and occasionally see the ice together at 5-on-5 when the team needs a goal late in a period, they had never practised as a line or started a game together. It was unusual, to say the least, to have all the firepower on one line. Leafs coach Craig Berube’s simple message prior to the game: “Don’t be too fancy.”
The Money Line had its issues, on the ice for Dallas’s first two goals.
“It started not so good, but that happens,” Nylander said. “I don’t think we’ve ever played a game together fully. But we found each other out there. Thought we had some really good chances as well. But we have to tidy up some stuff.”
Indeed, they got the job done. And with the Leafs holding a two-goal lead late in the third, Berube went back to his usual, more defensively sound lines. Nylander, playing with John Tavares, scored his second goal into an empty net.
But the jury seems to be out in Berube’s mind.
“I know they got a goal, and had some chances,” he said. “I think they were off tonight a little bit, like a lot of our guys were. I don’t think they had their best game.”
Joseph Woll earned the win, putting on a good show in stopping 36 of 39 shots as he prepares for a run of games now that his tandem partner, Anthony Stolarz, is out at least a month due to knee surgery.
”(Woll) was our best player tonight. He was really good,” Berube said. “Overall, our puck play and decision making at times wasn’t great by our team but we found a way to win. Our goalie was good. We did what we had to do.
Third-line magic
While much was made about Berube creating that power line, maybe the real reason was that the Leafs coach liked the way the other lines looked.
Domi looks reinvigorated playing with McMann and Robertson on a third line with both speed and skill. They connected twice on Sunday against Buffalo.