Two men and a baby: Maple Leafs’ new third line poses real threat to Lightning

Credit: Matthew Knies (© Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports)

You can forgive Matthew Knies for being a little raw to open and close Game 2.

His first home game in a Toronto Maple Leafs sweater also happened to be a playoff game, one of the rowdiest at Scotiabank Arena in recent memory.

“It was a pretty memorable moment stepping on the ice and seeing the rally towels, the energy on the ice, it was surreal,” he said.

He admitted that, as much as he loved taking in the atmosphere, he absolutely felt nervous. Here he was, the Leafs’ top forward prospect, not even two weeks removed from competing with Minnesota in the NCAA Frozen Four, tasked with replacing the suspended Michael Bunting in Toronto’s top nine in a borderline must-win contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning. So it wasn’t a huge shock to see Knies take a bad hooking penalty four minutes in. It was also forgivable when, asked about Morgan Rielly’s performance after the game, Knies launched into a discussion about Ryan O’Reilly before a reporter had to correct him. Chin up, kid. Easy mistake.

Between those awkward moments, however? Nothing but poise. Knies, 20, fit seamlessly into Toronto’s lineup and gave the bottom six a level of danger we’re not used to seeing. Playing on a line with O’Reilly and Noel Acciari, Knies flashed the skill set that makes him such a unique prospect, a big man with unusual agility at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds. He corralled pucks with quick hands in Tampa’s zone and put his teammates in positions to score. He had two shots and five hits in 13:10 of ice time.

And to call that third line dominant would actually be understating it based on the underlying numbers. In their time with Knies, O’Reilly and Acciari on the ice in Game 2, the Leafs outshot the Lightning 9-1; outchanced them 6-3; held a 4-1 edge in high-danger chances; and held a stunning expected goal share of 87.65 percent. Talk about tilting the ice.

“I thought the line was terrific,” said Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe. “We’ll watch it all back but it just felt to me like they were in the offensive zone or at least out of trouble a lot. Matt takes a penalty in the first period, but I thought he skated well, was hard on the puck, he made a couple great offensive plays, so it’s a real good performance for him. O’Reilly and Acciari, they were just real pros tonight in just how they took care of him and how they took care of the game when they were out there.”

Knies was just as quick to credit his veteran linemates for making him feel comfortable going into a high-pressure situation with the Leafs trailing 1-0 in their first-round series after being embarrassed in Game 1.

“Having two veteran guys with me was a ton of help,” Knies said. “I think O’Reilly really stepped up and put me under his wing there and made the game a lot easier for me. So I’m fortunate to have him in the middle and carrying the play and really the driving force for our line.”

Since the Leafs acquired O’Reilly leading up to the trade deadline, his most frequent linemates had been John Tavares and William Nylander. The Leafs were deploying O’Reilly in more of a a top-six role. But Game 2 showed how different Toronto’s identity can be if it has O’Reilly, the 2018-19 Selke and Conn Smythe Trophy winner, driving his own line. The third line was a real problem for a Lightning team missing two of its top three defensemen in Victor Hedman and Erik Cernak. It was reminiscent of the 2022 first-round matchup in which third-liner Nick Paul gave the Leafs fits. It seems all the great teams have that tertiary threat that can shut down, and wear down, the opposition.

So have the Leafs found that in Knies, O’Reilly and Acciari? The line certainly passed the test in Game 2, but the sample size remains tiny. Still, the Bolts have to be a bit concerned with this identity change in their opponent. Asked about the dominance of Toronto’s third line Thursday, Lightning coach Jon Cooper scoffed.

“Give me point, Cirelli and Paul, all day, against anybody in the league,” he said.

What’s that they say about animals who puff their chests out? It happens when they feel threatened. Just sayin’.

_____

_____

Two men and a baby: Maple Leafs’ new third line poses real threat to Lightning

Recently by Matt Larkin