The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Colorado Avalanche last night in Colorado.
The Toronto Maple Leafs really had no business winning this game, but it did serve as an excellent example of why a team needs a dangerous power play, and it showed what the Leafs could be if theirs was even an average power play for the last two months.
Basically, a good power play means you don’t have to be perfect to win.
The Leafs might be (by goals for and goal differential) the NHL’s best 5v5 team, but they didn’t show that last night.
But they did ride three power play goals, and a fantastic night by Freddie Andersen to victory.
Power Play Blues
Despite producing the best possession and scoring chance numbers in the NHL with the man advantage, the Toronto Maple Leafs have not seen those strong numbers translate into results.
Considering their roster, their strong play on the road, and their general impressive play at 5v5, if the Leafs power play was at the top of the league, they’d probably be neck-and-neck with Tampa for first place.
As you could see last night, the power-play, when it’s working, can get you out of some tight spots.
I really think that if your biggest weakness is your power-play, and if that power-play’s future success is supported by extremely strong underlying numbers, that there is nothing to worry about.
Yes, the bad results matter in so far as they affected the standings to this point. However, if you’re looking for an indicator of future success, scoring chances are going to be a lot more repeatable than goals. Which means that, based on the numbers to date, the Leafs power play has a very high probability of performing at the level their personnel indicates that it should be at.
When, not if, that happens, the Leafs are going to look a lot more like the Cup Favorite they should be, and not some seventh place loser team that can barely keep ahead of the Islanders.
(That’s a joke, by the way, there is nothing wrong with being in 7th place).
5v5
What’s to say about how the Leafs played? You saw it. It wasn’t pretty. We spend so much time talking about which players the team might trade for, but if they’d just utilize what they have properly, they could make some big improvements internally. I mean, there is no way they’re going to trade for a better left winger than Andreas Johnsson, just for example.
Anyways, last night’s game was brutal when the Leafs didn’t have a power play, but considering how bad Marner and Tavares were last night, I wouldn’t be too worried. Sure, they were brutal, but how often does that happen? Never, so who cares?
What I do care about is, since joining the team, Jake Muzzin is the least used 5v5 defenseman the Leafs have. The Leafs continue to under play two of their most talented wingers (Johnsson and Nylander) and they’ve sidelined the superior Igor Ozhiganov in order to keep Ron Hainsey in the lineup.
At least last night saw Ron Hainsey play the 6th most minutes, but I don’t know, it probably makes sense to play Johnsson and Nylander more than 45 seconds more than Frederik Gauthier.
As for William Nylander, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that he now has eight points in his last eight games and has been, probably, the team’s best player over this time.
stats from naturalstattrick.com