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Mitch Marner, William Nylander address Toronto Maple Leafs' failed powerplay so far
After the Toronto Maple Leafs' 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, Mitch Marner and William Nylander discussed the team's struggling power play.
Despite the win, Mitch Marner acknowledged that the power play hasn't started the season as the team would have hoped for. He shared the importance of remaining patient, saying that they made progress in their entries but need to refine their in-zone play (1:46).
"You just want your power play to be clicking. Obviously, it hasn't got off to the start we wanted, but we can't get frustrated with it. I thought we did a better job in our entries tonight," Marner said.
Marner also expressed confidence in the team's ability to improve by analyzing their play in practice.
"In-zone play, we just need to be a little cleaner and a little more direct. We did have looks around the net, second opportunities that just didn't fall our way. We'll get back to practice, talk about what we can get better at, figure it out, and just keep trying to improve," Marner added.
Nylander agreed with Mitch Marner, saying thaat the team needs to simplify their approach. He reassured fans that it's early in the season and is hopeful that the power play would start working soon.
"We've just got to simplify, like I said the other day. It's early in the season; we'll get clicking. I'm not worried about that," Nylander said.
The Leafs are getting ready for their next game against the Los Angeles Kings and will hope that their focus on improvement makes their power play better.
Mitch Marner and Leafs overcome slow start for home opener win against Penguins
The Leafs' home opener was marked by a slow start, which included a power-play goal by Kris Letang of the Penguins, assisted by Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.
The Maple Leafs had trouble creating good chances early on, but coach Craig Berube made some changes that shifted the momentum as Nylander and Max Domi found chemistry. Their connection led to Domi assisting Nylander on the goal that tied the game.
In the second period, Matthew Knies scored his first goal of the season, pointing to his strong play and the team's hard work. Although the power play couldn't extend the Maple Leafs' lead, Mitch Marner scored his first goal of the season, showing that he can still make plays despite earlier struggles.
The Penguins responded with a goal from Rickard Rakell, which helped Malkin reach the milestone of 1,300 NHL points. But the Leafs secured the win with strong performances from the likes of Anthony Stolarz, who stopped 21 of 23 shots, and Nylander, who capped the game with an empty-net goal.
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