The goals are great, but defences will adjust and the Leafs’ own blue line remains a work in progress. Five-game highs and lows,
Coach Babcock measures success five games at a time, so kudos after four wins — but about the defence
The Maple Leafs have won four of five games out of the gate, after limping to a 1-1-3 start last season. The reason for the improvement isn’t all that complicated, but their performance does raise questions going forward:
OFFENCE
Scoring is the Maple Leafs’ strength. The top three lines can be relentless, with a sniper or two on each unit. There’s even a 20-goal man (Connor Brown) on the fourth line. They have 26 goals in total, eight more than they did through five games last season. That’s a remarkable average of 5.2 goals a game. Scoring might be easier in October than later in the season, when teams have had time to adjust defensively, but the Leafs have already developed a level of confidence — that no matter how many goals they give up, they can score one more. “It’s only been five games, (but) we’ve shown we can score some goals,” said veteran Patrick Marleau, in his first season as a Leaf. “We can respond pretty quickly when we get scored on.”
DEFENCE
A commitment to team defence and finding the best third pairing remain works in progress. Connor Carrick’s return from injury on Saturday seemed to bolster Andreas Borgman’s game, but Calle Rosen will still see action while coach Mike Babcock tries to sort through the possible combinations. More concerning is the sometimes lackadaisical approach by some forwards in their own zone, notably Tyler Bozak’s line. Mitch Marner is minus-six, James van Riemsdyk minus-five and Bozak minus-four despite terrific possession numbers and a team-high percentage of offensive-zone starts. Put simply, that line loses too many puck battles. The coach has noticed. That line’s even-strength ice time is down by nearly two minutes a game.
GOALTENDING
Frederik Andersen has surrendered 19 goals, or exact same number the Leafs allowed through five games last year with Andersen and Jhonas Enroth seeing action. Andersen has been prone to a bad game every now and then. Still, he has performed at a high level, making saves when they were needed most. The thing with high-scoring teams is that they tend to give up a lot of chances, too. If the goalie makes big-moment saves, like Andersen has in each of the four wins, the offence will have the confidence to make plays at the other end. “With the offence we have, it’s good to know if we stay patient we’ll have a chance to finish it off,” said Andersen.
SPECIAL TEAMS
An adage born long before the analytics revolution suggests that if your power-play and penalty-killing numbers add up to more than 100 per cent, you’re doing all right. The Leafs are at 110, but most of that is because of the power play — operating at 30.8-per-cent efficiency, tops in the league but perhaps unsustainable. It also speaks to the potent offence and two very strong units with the man advantage. The penalty killing sits at a very pedestrian 79.2 per cent, 18th in the league. Shot blocking is part of it. Last year, the Leafs had three blue-liners in the top 100 in blocks per game (Roman Polak, Morgan Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev). Today, only Zaitsev ranks in the top 100.
DYNAMIC DUO
The combination of Auston Matthews and William Nylander has been a thing of beauty. Zach Hyman deserves lots of credit for getting them the puck, as well, but when those two have it, there’s almost no getting it off them. They criss-cross, they find each other off the boards, they do what they have to. They’re money in overtime. “They’re good players. They want to be in those moments,” said Babcock. “Guys who have been doing that their whole life want to get it done at that time.”
STATS PACK
Matthews has points in all five games (five goals, three assists).
Bozak is 17-5 in the faceoff circle, and the Leafs lead the league with a 57.8 faceoff win percentage.
Van Riemsdyk has goals in three straight games.
Nazem Kadri has five points in five games (two goals, three assists).
BAB-TALK
The last word goes Babcock: “We’re not playing near as good as the end of last year, not even close. But in saying that, we’re probably playing better than we were at this time last year. We have more talent, but we can still play better than we’ve been playing.”