OverDrive - Johnson on Matthews and Nylander on the same line, Canadiens calling out officiating and the Penguins' strong start

Episode Date: October 24, 2025

TSN Hockey Analyst Mike Johnson joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around the NHL, the Maple Leafs' back-to-back matchups against the Sabres, Auston Matthews and William Nylander on the same line, the Canadiens calling out the officiating, the Penguins in a solid spot and more.

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That is a tremendous pull. Well done. And I'm glad you mentioned bow tie because someone did remind me via social media that you promised to wear a bow tie of the Jay's made the World Series. So is that happening? Yeah, I think so. No, I'm not doing it today or tonight. It's, you know, I'm not doing it when I'm down at the game. I did originally say that I was being a hero, but I will do it on the show.

I will wear a bowtie on the show. Things have to go well this weekend, and he might do it Monday. But if he's miserable, he ain't pulling out the bowtie on Monday. He's not doing it. I'll do it at some point. But I can't do it on SportsCenter down there. It's not fair to Hedge and Keegan and like all the producers and people that work hard. And Kenny Rosenthal.

And Kenji Rosenthal. You know, everybody just can't do it, man. can't do it. So, you know, I'm a man of integrity, John. Fair enough. Yeah, man of integrity. All right. Your job above all else, but above the schick, I can appreciate that.

That's right, exactly. I'm a serious guy. Is this the right or wrong time to have a home and home with Buffalo if you're the Maple Leafs? I think it's the right time. I think they've had a couple days off, other than their injuries. All of a sudden, you know, a couple guys are Nick Tanev and Riley are not playing, and that's not ideal. But I think they're not happy with how it's going.

They're trying new line combinations. While Buffalo certainly has played better, they're not Colorado, which would be much more difficult. And a real opportunity to get some momentum. They're going to be in Buffalo tonight. We know that is going to be half to three-quarter Maple Leaf fans, bring that energy,

that sort of fun environment to play in. And they have a chance to go two-for-two. And with what's going on in this division, if they go Buffalo Buffalo Calgary they might find themselves in first place which doesn't really matter but they'll pick up points and they'll be right there psychologically in the standings where they want

so I think it's a good opportunity now I guess because it's Buffalo if it goes the other way it's not ideal but I look at it optimistically a chance to really have a great weekend Johnny what do you make of Austin Matthews and we talked about him

without Mitch Marner kind of having to drive the line himself and do a bunch of of things and now he's with william nielander what do you think of that happening as almost the necessity because of how little the line was doing and basically how much time the line has been spending in their own zone so now nilander's up there what's going to be happening on the ice when that line leaves the ice well so i mean the first part of it oh is it's not ideal but you have their two best players on the same line you'd like to split them up and have them each help A-line on their own.

But I do think we talked about the ability to transport the puck, the ability to gain possession of the offensive zone, and allow Austin to try to find open spaces to shoot. Willie can do that. Willie's the best on the team at that. And so in that sense, I get why they made that switch. The one thing we never talked about when we put Willie up on that line was taking Matthew Nyes off of it.

And maybe that second line becomes more of a cycle and possession and just wear down the other team. they won't be racing up and down the ice, but they'll be a little bit more lean on them in the offensive zone. But yeah, I mean, this is the challenge. You have to trust now that Matthews and Nylander will absolutely score every game virtually. And then you hope you just sprinkle in stuff from below them and the power play. And that would be enough.

Oh, but yeah, like if Neelander on a line is not helping them score consistently and Matthews on a line is not helping that line score consistently, a line without either one of them is going to be hard. hard-pressed to score consistently. So just to follow up on that, is McMahon the right guy on that left side? Because, you know, you look at it, the strengths of what each of them do, right? You know, Matthews, Neelander, McMahon, pretty straight-line guy, but tremendous speed, right? So is that maybe the thought process there, why you don't have nyes there, or you want it Tavares to play with somebody who is stable and would probably be the third or fourth best player, right, in Nyes?

Yeah, I think Knives is probably there to support DeVars, right? That kind of cycle, big physical puck protection game. And McMahon, you're right, he doesn't make necessarily, you know, fine passes and cutesy plays. He's a straight line guy. But I think he leads the team in hits. He's one of the leading hitters amongst all forwards in the NHL. So if they do dump the puck in, he's got enough speed to go get it. Like when you watch them play Jersey, whenever that was a couple games ago,

the guys that look best for Nylander and McMahon. and I think that's because they're the two fastest guys like actual physically at skating up and down the ice so noodles I think McMahon will get in there he'll stir it up he's fast enough to turn it over and then get out of the way and he can finish

he can shoot really well and trust that the other guys will make the plays that are necessary to make to get the offensive chances but probably better than maybe Machelli there because I think they need a little bit of something a little bit of a size a little bit of strength on that line to make it go

might have been Very delete, Johnny. We're talking about the forward lines mixing it up, but two of their top defensemen are out. How concerned are you about that? I'm very concerned about, very because the way they're playing now, they're asking so much from their defensemen. It's one thing if you have the puck in the offensive zone, then I can stand there with the blue line and be proficient. But if you're going to play in your own end, 55 or 60% of the time, which is, what they did against Jersey, that's going to put that much more on

Bleep Myers and Dakota Murmiss and new pairings and no Tanneth and O'Reilly. That's going to tax that group big time. So if they play the same way, very concerned. If they play better, if these new lines work, if the opposition has them in the offensive and more, then it of course won't be nearly the same problem because they won't be asked to do as much. So I think the forwards absolutely have to help the defense by not forcing the defensemen

who defend that much. And if they do that, then they'll be able to handle however long maybe rallies out in TANN hopefully not much longer than that. With Mike Johnson or TSN hockey analyst, who has to, if you could pick one guy to have a great night tonight. Best game they played

all year, who would you pick for the Leafs? I mean, I can't keep going the well, but isn't it Austin? I mean, it's got to be Austin Matthews. Like, it has to be. he's been fine he's been good because he is good but he hasn't been great

and he hasn't been dominant and he hasn't been dangerous consistently dangerous at five on five even if he doesn't score he needs a night where you know it's seven shots and it's good chances in tight

and he's got that hole in drag release and it's popping around the defenseman and getting to the net and feeling like oh there is that sort of energy and that pace that offensive juice that has been

absent at times this year for him. I think it's him. 100%. And then I don't know, Stolar is even playing tonight. I'm assuming he is. Yeah, I believe he was playing. It'd be a good day for Stollars. They're like, all right, whatever happens, they're not getting more than one, so we're going to win the game regardless. So, you know, their

best forward, their goaltender. Both those guys have a great game. I think that would do wonders for the psyche of the team. So, you know, the Havs had that last night, then the refs got involved, and I've noticed Dugie was pointing this out. that online, because the haves were not happy after the game.

I think Caulfield made comments. I think Marty St. Louis actually made some very pointed comments and understandably because some of the calls were terrible. But there's this belief that the haves, you know, always get hooked up by the refs, so who are they to be complaining? And I always thought that was how people felt about the Maple Leafs, that the Leafs always get hooked up, so who are you to ever complain? Is that your sense that, like, the rest of the country looks at the habs

or the rest of the league looks at the haves, is the team that somehow gets hooked up with calls? Because I've never been I never understood there. Yeah, I didn't quite get that. I thought it was the Leaves that had that impression, whether it's true or not, because the Leifes never actually draw any penalties. It's completely bogus that narrative.

But everything's, wow, it's Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, blah, blah, blah. I've not heard that about Montreal, but I will say around the league, it is 100% true that the perception is the Leafs do get all the calls, do get all the breaks. The league is favoring them. Oh, the office, the

war rooms in the Leafs building, of course they want the Leafs to win. When you look at the numbers, you just said it hates, it is absolutely untrue. The Leafs are always in the bottom of the league and penalties drawn, even though they've been one of the best teams that have the puck more than anyone else, that create

chances more than anyone else, but they get no penalty. So I think that is part and parcel with the anti-leaf sentiment that some of the country carries when it comes to hockey. But I don't know about the Toronto or about the Montreal side of things. I mean, when I play it for Montreal, when I cover Montreal, I don't get that sense. But

last night, that was tough. That was really tough because the Slovkoski penalty they first called, it's a terrible call. Okay, sometimes you miss it, sometimes you make a mistake. But awful, oh, right, terrible. But when you recognize that, and they would have seen it on the JumboTron,

they would have realized even in real time. Apparently they admitted it. Apparently they admitted it. Yeah, they said, yeah, we missed it back, call, sorry, they said that to Brennan Gallagher. Okay, so they know that. If Evanston scores on that power play, which they did, Josh Anderson should be able to do everything but club a referee in the head with his stick

before he gets an enforcement-like penalty. Like, recognize the situation. There is no words you can say, there is no foul language you can use, there is no expletive you can utter that would warn an unsports-in-like in that situation. And generally, the refs get that. Like when they mess up, they take the heat.

I hear it. I'm between the benches. They take it when it's warranted, and they get that. I don't know what happened there. I don't know what he said. I know what he did. But given what had just happened with Slopkoski, that was a egregious sequence for Montreal. That was just terrible.

And they get the short end of it. It's sensitivity of the refs, too. You know what I mean? Like, again, I'm dating myself, but we all go back to refs where you have nose-to-nose. It'd be like screaming at each other. and there would be nothing. I don't know. This looked like a gesture.

Jamie, a veteran guy that's been around a long time just tapping a stick on the ice and then the ref tees him up. I don't know. That's what I mean, though. I'm sure Billy McCurry back in the day would have to be so pissed off to give you. He would just skate the other way. Like, it's just, I don't know. But I've noticed guys just doing the games and what.

It seems like there's a lot of new refs in the league. Isn't there a guy? Like, you guys are between the benches. There's a certain. Yeah. Isn't there a lot of new faces that are. wheeling around out there because some of them I don't recognize.

There is. Yeah, Johnny. Yeah, you can speak to it too. There's a lot of new guys. Guys are retired. Guys get injured. Hunter's at all. There's probably, I don't know, six or eight new guys rolling through the league and then some of them are up and down. They do some games in the American League, some games in the NHL. But I would almost

think those guys would be less inclined to make such a bold call. Like, you know what? I'll just take it. I'm not going to be. I would expect this, the veteran guy to say, that's enough on T and you or whatever I'm going to give you that on sportsman like but that was that was awful awful awful sequence and the habs to this morning have every right to be upset that was brutal yep they had that game man they had that game and they're off to a great start and everything's you know moving in their

direction um and you were talking about pittsburgh last hour and they went into florida and beat florida again or beat them last night they're six and two sid looks great you know like you would expect, but Gino. Gino looks great. What do you do, though, Johnny? What do you do, Johnny? That was my question for the guys, though, Johnny.

They're six and two. They were the only team that seemed to be open for business in the offseason, basically saying, you know, trade for Russ, trade for Raquel, trade for whoever. Carlson, you name it, Jari. We're open for business. Does six and two change Kyle's mind, or do you have to wait for them to be another month from now? The old by accident, we're good.

Right against our best laid plans I mean yeah I think they probably wait because obviously the big guys who have trade protection I think even Raquel and Russ have some trade protection If you're winning and playing well then those guys aren't going to be very inclined to want to wave And certainly the big boys will not want to wave if they're winning and piling up points So yeah they got to wait to see if they flatten out if they come back to earth like maybe Detroit is coming back down to earth a little bit like Boston has come back down to earth a little bit after their good start Things have a way of equaling out and, you know, teams end up where they are supposed to be.

Give them credit. Pittsburgh's playing really well. They're beating the teams. Jari's been really good. Chilovs have been really good. Justin Bragg, though, looks like Jeff O'Neill out there, sniping left and right. It's just wild what they're doing right now. So I don't know if it's all sustainable. But, yeah, I think if they get off to a good start, 10, 15 games,

then it might take 10 or 15 more games for them to level out. and then reality to set in, and then maybe those conversations might happen. All right, Johnny. Game one of the World Series tonight. Big night. Big night for the Js. The Leafs are playing.

The rappers are playing. What a night. Enjoy yourself. Johnny, quickly give us a World Series prediction. I'm going to go J's in seven again. And when the games they lose, they're going to lose bad. And the games they win,

are going to be nail biters. That means you don't believe it. And they're going to lose tonight. Do you think they lose tonight and still win in game seven? Yeah, Blake's, Blake's just too much. Blake's hell is too good. That means you don't believe what you just said. I'm sorry.

If you say they're going to lose tonight over here. And the games they lose, they're going to get crushed. I just don't feel that you really believe that the Jays are going to win the World Series. I'm not a baseball. I don't care if they're, I mean, I want that a win, but yeah, no, I think they're going win. Not confidently. It's a 50-50 toss-up. Listen, if they win, I'll wear a bow tie on the show.

Yes. Now we got something going. That's a team player right there. Kenji Johnson. Kenji Johnson. Kenji Johnson. All right, Kenji, great catching up with you. Enjoy your weekend. We'll do it again early next week. Enjoy it, guys.

There he is. Kenji Johnson joining us here on the Maple Toyota Hotline. Get in and go where adventures take you in a new 25, 2025 Tacoma from Maple Toyota near Canada's Wonderland and the Maple Auto Mall, visit maple toytaire.com. The biggest songs in the world. You've heard them countless times.

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