For much of the regular season, Toronto was known for having a stretch-and-tip offense and a flip-and-alley-oop offense. But a lot of that gets taken away in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, especially when you are playing the same team potentially six or seven times. A team and players have to come up with a different approach. Playing deeper is the best way for a someone like Matthews to get to the puck, which makes sense because he and center John Tavares are the best Maple Leafs players to have the puck.
It's a basic game plan: the best way for a team's best players to get the puck is to be closer to it. With the stretch game, they are much further away from the puck. And if a player is a real puck guy like Matthews is, the closer he is to the puck and the sooner he gets it, the better he is going to be able to play offense.
Sure, it gets them into a better defensive posture by being deeper in their own zone. But it also creates offense because of their proximity to the puck. Once they get it, it allows them to get their head up sooner and gives them a better view to dissect the ice in front of them. A player like Matthews can start picking options on how to make his entry into the offensive zone much sooner.
I think forwards playing deeper on the breakout has always been in the Maple Leafs' bag of tactics. They're now implementing it because of the heavy forecheck the Bruins bring to the table, with an active unit of five guys on the attack. The way to combat that: have the five skaters on the ice closer together and, as I mentioned, closer to the puck. The key for Matthews to counter the Bruins forecheck is to be closer to the puck and move it quickly when he gets it.
Just as big a factor is the presence of Tavares, who plays on the top line and allows Matthews to play on the second or third line depending on how Babcock wants to move the three lines around. Not having to go up against the Bergeron line all the time gives Matthews more freedom and have more open ice, for sure.
Playing on a line with speedsters Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen also provides Matthews with more real estate to move around in. If defenders concentrate on him too much, Johnsson and Kapanen can exploit those tactics and get behind the defense thanks to their elite wheels.
It appears Matthews gained confidence as the game progressed Monday. Having been put in a better position to succeed, because of tactical alterations and because of the presence of Tavares, Matthews may continue on his learning curve of being a more dominant force.
If that happens, it could be bad news for the Bruins and the rest of the NHL.
