Leafs need to keep up the good work
Tavares, Marner and Andersen helped to raise the bar in the first quarter of the season
Third place in the NHL’s overall standings. A league-leading 9-1-0 road record. The second-highest goal differential (plus-19) and fifth-best goalsagainst mark (2.55 per game). The numbers don’t lie. Twenty games into the regular season, the Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the elite teams in the National Hockey League. Here are five reasons behind the team’s success at the quarter mark: HAVEN’T MISSED A BEAT There’s no doubt that the Leafs would have been even stronger and more balanced with Auston Matthews healthy and William Nylander signed. Matthews, the top-line centre, has missed nine games with a shoulder injury and just returned to practice. Nylander, a 61-point winger the past two seasons, remains at an impasse in contract talks. Toronto is an impressive 6-3-0 without Matthews, and four of those wins have come on the road. Centres John Tavares and Nazem Kadri have performed admirably, especially defensively, in Matthews’ absence. Nylander, meanwhile, has until Dec. 1 to sign or he can’t play this season. He could also be traded. However it plays out, knowing they can succeed even without two of their best players is an encouraging sign for the Leafs. THE TAVARES FACTOR Tavares has been arguably the No. 1 reason why the Leafs have weathered the storm without Matthews and Nylander. His greatest asset is leadership — by example, with hard work and determination every day, especially when it comes to defensive work, and vocally when it’s needed. That approach has set the tone for a team that has cut its average number of shots against by almost three a game from last season’s league- high figure. At the same time, Tavares has continued to produce offensively, under pressure to live up to the club’s massive investment — $77 million (U.S.) over seven seasons. He has responded with 23 points, including a team-leading 12 goals. The only other time he had more points after 20 games was in 201314 with the Islanders, when he was a finalist for the Hart Trophy. The following season, he recorded a career-high 86 points with 38 goals. He is on pace to surpass both marks. ANDERSEN’S WAKE-UP CALL Goalie Frederik Andersen has vanquished at least one demon this season: a history of sub-par Octobers. After posting a combined .874 save mark in the opening month the past two sea- sons, Andersen breezed past .900 last month and the momentum carried into November. He tops the NHL with 11 wins in16 starts and is among the leaders in goals-against average (2.08) and save percentage (.934). Andersen deserves full marks for focusing on a strong start to the season through a refined summer workout regimen that saw him do less heavy lifting and more flexibility training, with a renewed emphasis on diet. His workload — a career-high 66 starts each of the past two seasons — remains a topic of conversation in hopes of avoiding another dip in performance at playoff time. He appears more primed than ever to handle the heavy load, and the pressure that comes with it. DEALING WITH IT The backdrop to the stalemate with Nylander, a restricted free agent, is the fact that Matthews and Mitch Marner are in the final year of their entry-level contracts. The players have done a solid job of keeping things in perspective and not allowing the business side to become a distraction in the dressing room. The Nylander situation is on the front burner because of that Dec. 1 deadline, but how that shakes out will determine how much the Leafs have left to lock up their No. 1 centre and, in Marner, their fastest rising star — a driving force on offence and special teams. Given the unsettled situation when it comes to three core players, the Leafs have handled the distractions remarkably well. COACHES CORNER Coach Mike Babcock and his staff deserve a lot of credit for a solid performance at the 20-game mark. Behind the impressive numbers is the work done in practice: on backchecking, zone entries and exits, special teams. They also appear to have the right plan for backup goalie Garret Sparks in his first NHL season, amid high expectations that he can give Andersen more of a break. The players often remark that they feel well prepared for games, and that’s a reflection on the diligence of the coaching staff.