Editor In Leaf
Fansided

Toronto Maple Leafs Take Three of Four Points from the Big Dogs

By James Tanner

TORONTO, ON - MAY 27: Auston Matthews #34 and Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs take to the ice for the 3rd period against the Montreal Canadiens in Game Five of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 27, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MAY 27: Auston Matthews #34 and Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs take to the ice for the 3rd period against the Montreal Canadiens in Game Five of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 27, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

The Toronto Maple Leafs are currently on the best streak in franchise history.

Since putting an unlucky start to the season  behind them, the Toronto Maple Leafs are now 21-4-2 in their last 27 games. During this run, they have picked up 81.5% of the points available to them and are in first place in the NHL.

They have also have points in six straight (5-0-1) and most impressively:

They just played two of the best teams in the NHL and took three points out of four.

Oh yeah, and at no time have they dressed their optimal lineup yet this season.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Las Vegas Golden Knights

Last night’s game was kind of weird – the Leafs once again built a big lead (this time on the back of a great first period) and once again, it slowly evaporated.

There are those who will likely complain about this, and while a win is a win, it would obviously be smart for the team to learn to play better with a lead.

Still, as bad as the Leafs were in periods two and three, it’s hard to complain about the results.  The fact is, without Marner, on the road, against one of the NHL’s best teams, I don’t think it warrants a complaint – I’ve certainly watched this version of the team lose enough games where they played way better. (stats naturalstattrick.com).

Jack Campbell was the Leafs best player in this one, but Auston Matthews and William Nylander were close.  Nylander’s shootout goal was fantastic, I think I watched it ten times.

Matthews scored, again.  All of the postponed games have worked to hide what is one of the most impressive things we’ve ever seen a Leafs player do:

He has 16 goals in his last 14 games, of which time the Leafs have lost twice in regulation.

In this time he has only gone three games without a goal.  He is now second in the NHL in 5v5 goals, one back of Kyle Connor, who has played two more games.

Matthews is now one goal behind Ovechkin – he’s played six less games.

Matthews is now three goals behind Draisaitl – he’s played three less games + Draisaitl has scored on almost a quarter of his shots.

The craziest thing is that Matthews had wrist surgery and started the season by missing three games, and being ice cold in October. Since November 1st, he has a ridiculous 22 goals in 25 games.  That’s just a casual 72 goal pace, no big deal.

Next. The Leafs #1 Trade Target Should Be.... dark

Now imagine how many he’d have if he could draw a penalty.

Home/Maple Leafs News