Of course they are important. But playoff games are not the same as regular season, and the playoff game importance also increases as the series goes on. It really shouldn’t need to be explained that game 1 is much less important than game 7, and that there’s an incredible amount of additional pressure in elimination games. Marner is horrible as the pressure increases, and it’s not a small sample size. It’s near 10 years.
No one is saying he’s not a great player. He just lets the team down most when needed, and this is not something the leafs need when we already have Nylander and Matthews underperforming in the playoffs as well. All our stars have sucked, it’s just that Marner has sucked harder, especially relative to contracts.
I have no clue what the issue is with saying that and why everyone is so obsessed with defending him.
Every game is important in a playoff series. If it is not an elimination game, the first 4 games is more of an indicator than the last 3 games. If the series is tied after the first 4 games, it is a toss up, who wins the series. Based on odds the first 4 games is more important.
Up 1-0, 68.3% Chance of Winning Series
Up 2-0, 86.3% Chance of Winning Series
Up 3-0, 98% Chance of Winning Series
Up 2-1, 69.3% Chance of Winning Series
Up 3-1, 90.6% Chance of Winning Series
Up 3-2, 78.6% Chance of Winning Series
Series Tied 1-1, 52.2% Chance of Winning Series
Series Tied 2-2, 48.4% Chance of Winning Series
Series Tied 3-3, 48.4% Chance of Winning Series