I think we see a bunch of this in preseason for example. Players on the fringes want to make the NHL. They make a gargantuan effort to do so - their life's effort to date is on the line. Some have a great preseason and make the club (ie Nick Robertson this year). But that gargantuan effort is not sustainable. Eventually, they come back to the pack - along the lines of a rookie who hits a wall after half the season.
A few injuries give players lower in the line up or on the fringes a shot. Over the short term, they can suck it up and overachieve hoping to secure more ice time. But like an imbalance in nature, things have a way of balancing out. The occasional player sticks after getting the opportunity but the majority fall back.
Other circumstances are probably at play: goalie gets hot, special teams start to click, stretch of weaker or injured competition, opposing coach has lost the room, etc.
These have basically always been for shorter stints. Much easier to weather the storm for a few weeks than for months at a time.
Also, as I pointed out a few weeks back, their record without Marner is noticeably worse than their record with him.
I think we see a bunch of this in preseason for example. Players on the fringes want to make the NHL. They make a gargantuan effort to do so - their life's effort to date is on the line. Some have a great preseason and make the club (ie Nick Robertson this year). But that gargantuan effort is not sustainable. Eventually, they come back to the pack - along the lines of a rookie who hits a wall after half the season.
A few injuries give players lower in the line up or on the fringes a shot. Over the short term, they can suck it up and overachieve hoping to secure more ice time. But like an imbalance in nature, things have a way of balancing out. The occasional player sticks after getting the opportunity but the majority fall back.
Other circumstances with teams are probably at play: goalie gets hot, special teams start to click, stretch of weaker or injured competition, opposing coach has lost the room, etc. There often isn't a simple explanation of one factor. But you do hear coaches and players using the word "consistency" a lot. They all can relate to witnessing spurts of excellence but they know it is the players who do it all season who will prevail.
During the 7-1 run without Matthews, they have had great goaltending, improvement in special teams, a stretch of weaker competition (6 of 8 teams in the bottom half of the league) and a team (Boston) where the coach may have lost the room.
