Leafs’ stout defence earns its share of spotlight
When ranking the best defensive teams in the playoffs, where would you place the Toronto Maple Leafs?
It’s not an easy question to answer.
The team doesn’t smother the opposition like the New York Islanders do. It lacks the top-end talent of Tampa Bay or Vegas. It’s not nearly as dangerous offensively as Colorado. And then there’s the reputation.
The Leafs, who are built around the Big 4 of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander, have always been known more for scoring goals than preventing them. They don’t have a Norris Trophy favourite on their roster. They probably don’t have anyone who will get a single vote as the top defenceman.
And yet, that doesn’t mean Toronto’s defence is not worthy of your praise.
After limiting Montreal to just four goals in the first four games in this year’s playoffs, it is definitely the kind of defence you can win a Stanley Cup with.
“First off, I don’t get too caught up in who gets credit or anything like that or what people are saying,” said Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe. “But a part of that is just the fact that you want to be tested on it in the biggest stage. And the playoffs are a big part of that. I think through this series, we’ve really liked the job that we’ve done.”
The reason why Toronto headed into Game 5 on Thursday leading Montreal 3-1 in the best-of-seven series had more to do with the combined efforts of its unheralded defence — and less because of its high-priced forwards.
That might be an odd thing to say about a team that has placed so little importance on its defence over the years. After all, the Leafs are not exactly built from the net out. It’s quite the opposite. The combined salaries of goalie Jack Campbell and its top six defencemen are less than Toronto is paying Matthews and Marner.
It’s an investment that helped the Leafs become one of the top offensive teams in the league, with Matthews leading all scorers with 41 goals and Marner ranking among the top five in points. But once the playoffs began, the old axiom about defence winning championships has rung true.
Heading into Game 5, the Leafs had given up the fewest number of goals in the playoffs and ranked in the top three in shots against. They had also not allowed a power play goal — a statistic that should not be overlooked for a team that had given up seven power play goals in each of the last two times Toronto played Boston in the first round.
“We’ve been doing a pretty good job,” said Justin Holl. “It helps having (goalie Jack Campbell) back there, he’s been an absolute rock and he’s cleaned up what mistakes we have made.”
It’s a continuation of the work they did in the regular season.
A year ago, the Leafs allowed the sixth-most goals in the league and ranked in the bottom half in shots allowed. This year, despite playing in a division that included the NHL’S top two scorers, Toronto allowed the eighth fewest goals and the seventh fewest shots.
In fact, Connor Mcdavid only scored 10 of his 105 points against the Leafs — the fewest against any of the six teams.
“Whether you get credit or not, it’s important — and has been from Day 1 of training camp — for us,” Keefe said of the attention to defence. “If you look at all the statistics defensively, we’ve improved greatly from a season ago and we think that’s the real foundation for our success as a team that has to continue.”
The Leafs have certainly come a long way since last year’s play-in series against Columbus, when an injury to Jake Muzzin in Game 1 forced them to ice a defence that included Morgan Rielly, Tyson Barrie, Cody Ceci, Justin Holl, Martin Marincin and Travis Dermott.
What a difference a year can make.
On Thursday, Toronto’s defence featured Rielly, Muzzin, Holl, T.J. Brodie, Zach Bogosian and Rasmus Sandin. As for Marincin, he was ranked ninth or 10th on the depth chart, somewhere below Dermott and Ben Hutton and possibly Timothy Liljegren.
That’s a huge step up. Not just because there’s more talent, but also because the pieces are fitting better than they ever have in the past.
With apologies to Rielly, who might earn a spot on Team Canada’s Olympic roster, the Leafs might not have a defenceman like Hedman, who can take over a game and do it all. But they have all the pieces to get the job done as a committee.
There’s a balance to the pairings. Each set of defenders serves a purpose.
As good as Barrie looked in Edmonton this year, swapping out an offensive defenceman for a two-way defender in Brodie has allowed Rielly to roam more in the offensive zone, where he a goal and three points in four games.
The shutdown second pairing of Muzzin and Holl has been a handful for Montreal’s forwards. Even the third pairing, which is traditionally one that coaches nail to the bench, has provided a sense of calm when they are on the ice.
Bogosian’s physicality is exactly what the team had been missing on the penalty kill. And while Montreal has been afraid to use rookie Alexander Romanov so far, Toronto does not share that fear with Sandin because he is next to someone who has won a Cup and who plays with intelligence.
There isn’t a pairing that Keefe has to hide. Instead, as a six-man unit, it’s time they deserve their place in the spotlight.