How the Toronto Maple Leafs Can Win the Series Tonight

On Friday night the Toronto Maple Leafs made a historic comeback down by 3 goals on the verge of elimination.

The Toronto Maple Leafs previously allowed the Columbus Blue Jackets to make a compelling comeback of their own, and this goes to show how tight the series has been as a whole.

Last night writer for the athletic Aaron Portzline had tweeted each of the goal sequences for the respective teams in order.

Here it is:
goal sequences: CBJ CBJ TML TML TML TML TML TML CBJ CBJ CBJ CBJ CBJ CBJ CBJ TML TML TML TML.

This illustrates how evenly matched both teams are and how good of a series it has been thus far.

With this all being said, let’s take a look at some of the ways the Leafs have been able to outplay the Blue Jackets and how important they are moving forward into game 5.

Auston Matthews is a Superstar

To set it straight, Matthews has been without a doubt the MVP for this Leafs team all season and all series. Matthews is really showing how truly special of a player he is and how lucky the Leafs are to have him.

Last game Matthews had 28:15 TOI, 11 shot attempts, two brilliant primary assists, and the overtime winner to force a game 5.

Matthews’ ability to step up and win the Toronto Maple Leafs the hockey game exemplifies how Matthews is a big game player and proves the people who said he wasn’t completely wrong.

He is one of the best players in the league and that’s at all times.

The Fourth Line Has Been Bulletproof

The Leafs fourth line of Clifford-Engvall-Spezza was the only line to go throughout the whole game and perform at a high level. They were very effective last night, and have been solid since put together.

At 5v5 the line had 76.19CF%, 74.58xGF%, and one fight. These numbers are extraordinarily good and a big reason for the Leafs’ ability to gain momentum. (stats naturalstattrick.com).

The line proved to Sheldon Keefe that they are capable of any matchup and began to be relied upon more and more as the game went on which go to show how well of a job they did.

Jason Spezza was not going down without a fight and Sheldon Keefe said it perfectly after the game, “Jason Spezza did not want our season to end today. That’s a guy not going down literally without a fight.”

To have a veteran player like that who is able to show the team he’s willing to do anything to get the victory in the game is really important and maybe a reason why the team was able to fight back to victory.

Kyle Clifford was out every shift absolutely working as hard as he can, and again it’s great to have a player like that who goes more than 100% every shift.

Pierre Engvall was again amazing in transition, whether it was him taking away the puck in the neutral zone or using his speed to get the clean zone entry, he was a difference-maker all night long. I talked more about how Engvall is more effective than Gauthier here.

Maple Leafs Penalty Kill

The Leafs penalty kill has been oddly perfect four games into the series, in fact, the Leafs even have a positive goal differential of 1 on the penalty kill with Cody Ceci’s shorthanded goal in game 3.

Out of 12 times shorthanded total, the Leafs have been able to completely stifle the Blue Jackets offense, even without key defender Jake Muzzin.

The Leafs forwards speed seems to have really made a difference in the effectiveness of the penalty kill.

Whether it has been Kerfoot, Hyman, Kapanen, Engvall, or Marner, they have been able to give the Blue Jackets players no time or space.

Maple Leafs Powerplay

The Leafs powerplay started the series out without any goals due to the Blue Jackets’ excellent defense, but they have surged in the last two games scoring two key goals.

If the Toronto Maple Leafs are able to continue to score meaningful powerplay goals, there is a reason for optimism ahead. To top that off, I don’t believe any of these powerplay goals are flukey or anything, in fact, I only think the Leafs powerplay can improve from getting more reps.

Blue Jackets Unknowns

The Blue Jackets have suffered a couple of injuries to some key players.

The most notable being  Zach Werenski who didn’t play the last 9 minutes of regulation or any minutes in overtime.

Neither coach John Tortorella or GM Jarmo Kekalainen had any update on whether he will play in game 5.

The same can be said for defensemen Ryan Murray who missed game 4, and his status is unknown for game 5.

Both defensemen are important players for the Blue Jackets, and both being injured really disrupts the core of what was supposed to be a strength for the team.

If the Blue Jackets are forced to lean on Scott Harrington, this is probably problematic for the Blue Jackets.

But remember the Blue Jackets are used to having to play injured if you take a look at their season as a whole.

Another unknown for the Blue Jackets is who will start for game 5 in the net. There are strong cases for and against Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo so it will be interesting to see who Torts goes with. I personally lean towards Korpisalo, but in my twitter poll, the majority believe it will be Merzlikins.

Just as close as the series has been, there is no predicting who will win in game 5, but if the Leafs are able to continue to succeed in these key areas of the game, I reckon they will have success.