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Toronto Maple Leafs vs Blue Jackets: Special Teams Analysis

By Philip Van Riesen

SUNRISE, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 27: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs takes a shot on goal against the Florida Panthers during the third period at BB&T Center on February 27, 2020 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
SUNRISE, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 27: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs takes a shot on goal against the Florida Panthers during the third period at BB&T Center on February 27, 2020 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Mitch Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs
TORONTO, ON – NOVEMBER 7: Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs  . (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Special teams always play a major role in the outcome of a series, and the Toronto Maple Leafs should know this better than anyone.

Last year in the playoffs, the Boston Bruins scored on the powerplay on 7 out of 16 opportunities. As a contrast, the Toronto Maple Leafs powerplay only went 3 for 16.

The difference in special teams ultimately was the difference between winning the series or losing it.

The Blue Jackets had their own form of special team success against the lightning last year, with 5 powerplay goals for and only 2 shorthanded goals against.

But all of these numbers come from over a year ago, so it’s best we look at the results from this past season.

in the 2018-2019 season, Columbus was a strong powerplay team and a strong penalty-killing team.

That has changed drastically. This past season, Columbus is among the weaker powerplay teams in the league, although they have an excellent penalty kill.

With that in mind, let’s analyze both team’s special teams in the upcoming five game series.

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