Jackson Marthaler was likely Wisconsin’s best player in their three games, and he showed some nice flashes of ability to make himself stand out. He displayed some nice work on the rush as he carried the puck up ice on a couple of occasions and was able to generate a quality chance for himself using quick hands and powerful skating strides. He would occasionally have to rush back as his team was vulnerable on the counterattack, but his ability to start plays from his own end was impressive.

A slightly larger defenseman than his compatriot, Jackson Marthaler is someone I really enjoyed watching over the course of the week. He played a very solid and well rounded game that allowed him to make an impact anywhere on the ice. On offense he displayed a good point shot and he did well to wait for openings to appear or create them himself with some nice footwork along the line. He made quick decisions and his ability to receive the puck and immediately be in a position to either shoot it or direct a pass elsewhere is something that I really appreciated about his game. He sees the ice well and is calm on the puck, keeping it away from forecheckers with relative ease and making crisp passes out of the zone and sending the offense on their way. Defensively he was strong in corner battles and was quick to turn to chase play to the outside when someone attempted to beat him with speed. There is plenty to like about Jackson’s game and he showed just that against some high level competition.

I don’t think there is a single bad thing I could say about this performance from Jackson Marthaler. He was such a commanding presence on the blue line for his side, he dictated the pace of play in the offensive zone, and he used his size well on the defensive side of the puck. He smothered the opposition and earned good body positioning to make it easier for him to come away with the puck. He used his long strides well to get forward and join in on rushes up the ice and act as the supplemental forward. His distribution in transition was solid; he used some impressive lateral mobility along the point to shake loose the pressure and then separate from his man to either bear down on goal or fire a shot from the point. He scored a very nice goal after he shook his man at the point and waltzed in and fired a heavy wrist shot high over the blocker side. It was an all-around strong performance from the defenseman.

Headmanning the puck with evasive skill, confidence and conviction, Jackson was one of Team Gray's top two-way defenders over the course of this game. His athleticism is a prominent feature in all that he does, from his fluid stride to his efficient transitions from forward skating to backward and his lengthy reaches to break up opposing possessions. It often means that he's able to commit to a certain play without compromising his ability to decouple and engage in another situation moments later. Though there did turn out to be some less than ideal decisions on his part over the game as a whole, such as an overcommitted pinch where he missed the puck in his attempt to hold the line, I think Jackson also showed some of the most impressive combinations of puck handling skill and mobility that I've seen from a defenseman of his size in a long while. He did a good job settling the puck in difficult situations and remained composed while doing so. His desire to carry the puck could be tempered a bit and perhaps directed towards more of a systematic playmaking approach, but it's hard to argue against the fact that he played to his strengths.

He was the one player where I felt like I could go back for a shift by shift and learn heaps about him. His mini flashes of talent and skill were worth their weight in gold. He had a high-end individual rush attempt early on where he was stickhandling quick and used his extension and reach to power around a defender for a short side shot attempt. All of his elements were working in flow like his power, crossovers, quick-twitch handling, and stride. Sadly, the go ahead goal for LA came after another high-end attempt at rushing the puck on his behalf.