The Leafs’ top line of Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner left much to be desired in Dallas according to head coach Craig Berube.

For the $35M top line, Wednesday’s game against the Dallas Stars was a roller-coaster. They were scored on in their first shift of the game and again on their first shift of the second period, but also countered with a pair of goals later in the game to help even things out.

Following a tense third period that saw the Stars make a push, the Leafs managed to hold on. Berube was asked about the play of his newly formed top line, and hinted at potentially breaking them up after just one game together.

“I know they got a goal and some chances, but for me, they were off a little bit tonight, like a lot of our guys were. I didn’t think they had their best game. We’ll see.”

 

Although Berube was not overly impressed with the top line, the entire team started slow, just as they have over the past number of games, but once again, they battled back in the second half.

It would be more of a surprise to see Berube break up the trio of first-round picks after just one game than to keep them together. Despite a lackluster performance from Matthews, Nylander and Marner, putting them together inadvertently created what appears to be a dominant third line in Max Domi, Bobby McMann and Nicholas Robertson.

The Leafs will look for a more complete effort from everyone as they travel to Buffalo for a meeting with the Sabres on Friday before hosting the New York Islanders on Saturday.