The Key to Unlocking Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner in the Playoffs Revealed

There is a lot of pressure on both Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner to perform well in this year's playoffs. They don't have the best track record of success, and in order to make the run of a lifetime, they are going to need some pretty big performances.

But in order to do so, they may need to do something they haven't done since 1999-2000: Win the division.

Yes, technically they won the North Division back in the COVID-shortened season in 2020-21, but in terms of a full 82-game slate, it's something that the team hasn't done since the Pat Quinn days.

But it's more important that they win the division because it'll help keep Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner in the best possible position.

If Toronto were to secure the Atlantic, not only does it give them home-ice advantage and the playoff atmosphere they want, but if they were to face the Lightning, it would allow them the last change, and allow both Marner and Matthews to face less defensively savvy players.

Tampa is very good at both ends of the ice, and adding to the list guys like Victor Hedman and deadline acquisition Yanni Gourde, it's going to be miserable for Toronto if they can't take advantage of home-ice.

Toronto hasn't been that successful at home though in the playoffs, only going 3-6-1 over their last three playoff series at Scotiabank Arena, but the minor advantages of being the home team are still a net positive regardless of history.

It's going to be imperative that Toronto also makes sure that any power plays are pounced on, and if they can get really lucky; perhaps get one of the Lightning shutdown players in the box.

There's going to be a very intense chess match between Craig Berube and Jon Cooper, as both coaches try to anticipate the other's move and set up accordingly. But if Toronto doesn't get things together then there's only going to be one outcome:

Checkmate.