Friday FTB: Recap of Nick Robertson’s two-goal breakout game and what it means

Let’s start with the hilarity of last night when both Katya and I wrote parallel universe recaps for the game Leafs vs. Stars. And that’s a good thing, because the joy and exhilaration of Nick Robertson’s two-goal game definitely required more than one article.

It actually took more than two, so here’s a quick recap of Robertson’s game and what it means for him, Denis Malgin and Brandon Pridham to move forward.

Robertson’s night

Goals

Nick’s first goal was to win his hard work to dodge his check, sneak around, and get to the slot before anyone could catch him. From there, getting the puck into the net was just mechanics.

And as for the winner, Nick reminds us all that he scored 50 points in the OHL.

opportunities

In the non-goals, Robertson showed his tenacity while attempting to score with three stars on his back. One thing that has benefited Robertson greatly in his development is his efficiency in getting to the places he needs to go. He doesn’t make wide arcs or jump around a lot. If he gets into the dangerous areas faster, he has better scoring chances.

And if he can open gates quickly (like his first goal), he can show off his hard shot that way. Nick missed two of those on the short side before nailing it on his Game Winner.

We don’t often talk about the top notch vet who gives the little boy every chance to look great and thrive in the NHL. Usually it’s Ryan Getzlaf, Sidney Crosby or Victor Hedman. But Nick Robertson, William Nylander is the guy for him. Nylander really set up a dozen chances in that game, and lots of them for Nick.

Unfortunately, Omar missed the end of that shift when Robertson jumped off the top of the net to deflect his brother’s pass onto the then wide-open Miro Heiskanen. If Nick hadn’t realized what was happening and tried to stop it, this game would have been over and he probably would have taken the blame.

Cellys

vibrations

statistics

Robertson finished the evening with two goals on five shots (.46ixG), with all five shots coming from scoring areas. In 12 minutes of 5v5 ice time, Robertson had a 60% shooting percentage and a similar number of expected goals. And on a night when the front row was ripped in by the third row of stars, the second row, led by Tavares and Nylander, finished 12-7 in shots.

Denis Malgin

Brandon Pridham

This was just one game for Robertson in which he scored two goals. It’s easy to get carried away by this. But if we compare Robertson to last year and the year before that, we see a much more complete player. He no longer shows the tendency to go to his own system, his work ethic has remained strong and he’s getting good chances thanks to his skating and timing (and William Nylander too).

The Leafs couldn’t add Robertson to their opening night lineup, but I suspect they wanted to. Instead, they went with Denis Malgin and only recently were able to pull up Robertson with the advantage of LTIR. Malgin has played decently – he also scored on his debut – so it’s worth keeping him if possible, but Robertson is inherently a more dynamic and differentiating player. Funnily enough, this was something the masthead talked about during the boring parts of the game last night when it came to Mason Marchment.

It would be great to keep both Malgin and Robertson, but I think if push comes to shove and Robertson continues to work so well on that 2LW spot, the Leafs will have to make the tough decision and forego Malgin. Well, before they do, there’s one thing that could change things up.

Robertson vs Malgin is mostly a self contained fight, the Leafs have to trade someone just to bring in Timothy Liljegren from LTIR. This has to happen regardless of what happens to Robertson. The alternative to trading with one player is to assume someone else is going to LTIR. Matt Murray is currently in it. Jake Muzzin is only on IR and we’re getting mixed messages from the team (Keefe, Marner, Brodie all spoke with varying degrees of tragedy). It could be Muzzin out long-term, it could be Matthews after a tough night that saw his wrist, foot and head banged up. Don’t shoot the FTber, that’s all I’m saying.

Anything Brandon Pridham and Kyle Dubas have to say needs to make a decision, but it’s not one that affects Robertson. After this debut, he will decide his own future, and a bright future that it leads to.

Various leaves and branches

Recap: Nicky Nicky you can’t see your two goals just hypnotize me | by: Hardev + Omar

Nick Robertson defeats the Stars in overtime | by: Katya + Omar

Some say you can’t put up two candidates, and to those people I tell them I have publishing powers.

The Leafs (and the rest of the NHL) have released their reverse retro jerseys for this season. What do you think?

And what do you think of the hockey pants the Flyers will wear to warm up at some games this season?

Big chance for young Joe Miller at Haaaavaaaaahhhhhdddd.

And Naz started his Calgary career with five points in his first four games. However, the Sabers ended the Flames’ undefeated record tonight.