Daily Faceoff Live: Will the Marner and Robertson point streaks continue?
Frank Seravalli was joined by Nick Alberga on the latest episode of Daily Faceoff Live to discuss the point streaks of Mitch Marner and Jason Robertson.
Frank Seravalli: Let’s talk about the main event on tonight’s slate. Nick, I mentioned that tonight is the main event in Dallas between the Dallas Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs as two players are carrying franchise record point streaks into the game. It’s 19 games for Mitch Marner, it’s 18 games for Jason Robertson. And when you take a look at the number of goals that Robertson has piled up during this stretch. Eighteen goals which is more than Marner has assists during the streak.
We know which one is more impressive but Nick, I wanted to ask you in addition to just the points, what has impressed you most about what Mitch Marner’s been able to do for the Leafs this season?
Nick Alberga: First, thanks for having me the story certainly writes itself as you said between Dallas and Torontp. I think from the Marner perspective it really brings me back to year one when John Tavares joined the Maple Leafs. It seemed like Marner had the puck on his stick at all times. When this guy is going, puck possession is a big thing and the confidence with the puck. Being able to do dynamic things, and not give the puck away.
We saw that a lot in the month of October, he would always try to be too cute, too pretty. And to a degree I think he simplified things in the month of November and now certainly into December. He’s just that type of player that has so much confidence and it is oozing right now that every time he has the puck something is happening. On top of that, the other thing I’ve noticed as of late he’s riding a five-game goal streak coming into tonight.
He’s shooting the puck a lot more, it’s a different dynamic we saw last year too when he had 35 goals. I just think it makes Mitch Marner even tougher to defend against when he’s shooting the puck the way he has been the last couple of years.
Colby Cohen: Well Nick, we can’t talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs without me asking about the goaltending situation. I sat on this show not long ago and told Frank that I thought this was the year Toronto would get over the hump. And we’d see them finally make it to a Stanley Cup final. They’ve had their hard playoff series’ but the goaltending situation always seems to be a story. What have you seen out of that and what are we expecting to see going forward?
Nick Alberga: Yeah, you just never know it’s gonna be Matt Murray once again tonight for the Maple Leafs and I think you have to give Kyle Dubas and company a lot of credit and again we’re just about a quarter of the way through the season. Both guys, in particular Ilya Samsonov has been really good, he’s back in the mix. And so is Matt Murray, obviously what we see with Matt Murray is always the concern of injury, you look at the track record, you look at the resume. I think what I’ve noticed most about Murray is that he’s been really quiet which I think is a good depiction of a strong goaltender. And I think they’re seeing it right now.
So from that point of view I think they have to be ecstatic, having said that as we know guys, it’s a long season. If you do recall, last November Jack Campbell was quite the story, the Maple Leafs were 12-2-0 in 14 games and he stood on his head. So a lot can change over a short period of time but certainly it has to be one of the major storylines early on in this season is how good and strong the goaltending has looked so far.
Frank Seravalli: Alright, so I gotta ask you Nick to wrap things up which streak continues tonight, Marner, Robertson, both, or neither?
Nick Alberga: I’m going to go with both, I think it’s a cop out answer. I have more faith in Jason Robertson, I will say that. Just the way he’s scoring right now, if you’re looking for a betting perspective +110 on an anytime Jason Robertson goal I think is money in the bank. This guy scores every game and then some so I probably lean towards more Robertson but I think both guys get the job tonight.
Frank Seravalli: I like to root for chaos Nick, so I would be looking at a single game parlay of neither streak continuing. I asked this same question in a poll on Twitter, almost 8500 votes on Sunday night. Both was the preferred answer, 44% that responded said both streaks will continue. Can’t wait to watch it, certainly lots of drama and theatre down in Big D.