The Toronto Maple Leafs are a high scoring team, but their underrated defense and goaltending proved to be a game-changer in a resounding win last night vs one of the NHL’s best teams.
The Toronto Maple Leafs put on a clinic against the Lightning in all facets of the game: offense, defense, goaltending, and positioning were all close to perfection.
Their coverage on the Lightning’s breakout plays stifled any pressure Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov attempted to place on the defense.
Their breakout plays, however, proved to cause fits for the Lightning the whole night.
Play away from the puck was stellar, getting in the way of shooting and passing lanes, frustrating the Lightning attack.
The Lightning are not a bad team, but the Toronto Maple Leafs made them look mediocre last night. Whether they were off their game or not doesn’t really seem to matter here because the Leafs effectively countered their strategies once the second period began.
With that said, here are my three takeaways.