The Leafs don't need Nazem Kadri to score to finally beat the Bruins, but the odds will go up considerably if he does. reporterchris looks at how the team is hoping to gain an edge with Kadri playing in a different role in the playoffs.
What Kadri sees in his own performance, however, is a little more nuanced. He points to a massive improvement in the faceoff circle — he shot up to a 55 per cent success rate, after making that an area of emphasis — and a run of unfavourable puck luck as his primary takeaways from the Opening 82.
That should mean easier competition for Kadri and wingers Patrick Marleau and William Nylander, not to mention more shifts starting in the offensive zone. Those two themes ran consistently through Kadri’s regular season and helped boost his underlying numbers. He saw year-over-year gains in Corsi , scoring chance share and goals-for percentage while producing more assists and points per 60 minutes played, individually.
“Those are the things for us that we need from Naz. We’ve talked about it lots. He understands what’s needed.”
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