1) Tavares-Nylander are struggling; not with putting up points necessarily, but in keeping the puck out of their zone
2) Nylander is taking most of the blame because that?s easiest, especially when the puck goes in (as it has been quite easily of late)
3) People have been defending Tavares with: ?at least he wins face-offs and tries hard every night?
To which I?d say:
1) yes, in the DZ, Nylander is only good when the puck is loose and he sweeps in to sort it out, but doesn?t do much individually to free pucks. Now let?s see who has been turning over the puck a lot to cause this DZ time and rush chances against? hmm
2) Nylander and Keefe both know he is better motivated by the ?stick? approach. He makes plenty of good defensive plays in the OZ/NZ that largely go unmentioned, and dangerous assists that never get realized by linemates
3) who takes the faceoff is a coaching decision; great that Tavares is largely winning them as usual, but Nylander has been a plus-faceoff player previously when helping Matthews on his weak side. As for Tavares? effort, I?d say both players are working hard. Tavares just skates like a walrus on land, so of course it looks like he?s working hard! He makes it look harder than it should be! Nylander put in a lot of work to make his stride efficient and appear easy, so he tends to get back into plays just enough to make it look like he failed to make a play, rather than being offscreen like everyone else.
Anyway, separate them. Match their linemates to suit their play styles.
