Your game in ten:
1. The Marner / Matthews duo at 5v5 has been clamored for incessantly among the fan base for over three years now. When asked about not playing this duo regularly last year, Babcock responded that, “he likes winning” — suggesting that the two are better apart and make the Leafs a harder team to defend against when they are hopping over the boards on consecutive shifts rather than at the same time. It appears as though Babcock may have been onto something there.
Right now, it is not working as the fan base drew it up — the two do not look good together and the numbers bear this out.