Max Domi’s versatility and offensive impact for the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs go way beyond the traditional stat sheet.
The 29-year-old forward’s performance, not only in points (four in six playoff games) and shots on goal (16; 91st percentile) but also several NHL EDGE stats, has helped them overcome the absence of center Auston Matthews (illness) for the past two games to force Game 7 against the Boston Bruins after previously trailing the Eastern Conference First Round series 3-1.
Domi, who’s filling in on the top line with Mitch Marner and Tyler Bertuzzi and also the first power play, is among the NHL leaders in various underlying numbers for the whole series: Domi ranks in the 82nd percentile in top skating speed (22.06 miles per hour), 83rd percentile in 20-plus mile per hour speed bursts (11) and 80th percentile in skating distance (16.08 miles) entering Friday.
And Domi’s high shot volume has resulted from him being tied for 10th in the entire NHL in high-danger shots on goal (seven; 95th percentile) this postseason. Considering Toronto signed Domi to a one-year, $3 million contract July 2, 2023, that has been one of the League’s best contracts in terms of his impact so far in the playoffs.
Regardless of whether Matthews returns for Game 7 at TD Garden on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN, TVAS, CBC), Domi has been effective while shouldering a heavier workload than in the regular season, when he was mostly either Toronto’s third-line center or occasionally playing wing. Domi has one assist and five shots on goal in the two games Matthews has missed, playing over 18 minutes in each (compared to 13:47 per game in regular season).
Domi’s career Game 7 stats are also impressive: his teams are 2-1, and he has four points (three goals, one assist) in those three games.
Entering this Atlantic Division series, the marquee matchup on paper was Matthews, the NHL’s regular-season goal leader (69), facing Bruins forward David Pastrnak, who led them with 110 points (43 more than Boston’s next-highest point producer Brad Marchand’s 67). Domi has matched Pastrnak’s point total in the series with nearly as many shots on goal (Pastrnak: 19).
But Pastrnak’s underlying numbers remain strong: despite being held to two goals in six games, he ranks among the NHL EDGE stats leaders in skating distance (18.66; 96th percentile; third among forwards), high-danger shots on goal (five; 88th) and long-range shots on goal (five; 93rd; second most among forwards behind Nathan MacKinnon’s six for Colorado Avalanche) during the playoffs.
And, as a team, Toronto has the second-most total shots on goal (184) and is tied with the Florida Panthers for second in high-danger shots on goal (51) behind only the Avalanche (186; 55) – rising to the occasion without its best player.
