Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 Takeaways from a Dominant 6-2 Win

Mar 29, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitchell Marner (16) is congratulated after scoring against the Boston Bruins by center Auston Matthews (34), defenseman Mark Giordano (55) and defenseman Morgan Rielly (44) during the second period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 29, 2022; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitchell Marner (16) is congratulated after scoring against the Boston Bruins by center Auston Matthews (34), defenseman Mark Giordano (55) and defenseman Morgan Rielly (44) during the second period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
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Mar 27, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Alexander Kerfoot (15) Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 27, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Alexander Kerfoot (15) Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports /

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.

TAMPA, FLORIDA – APRIL 04: Auston Matthews #34 (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA – APRIL 04: Auston Matthews #34 (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

1. The Toronto Maple Leafs Offense was Dominate

Auston Matthews terrorized the opposition with his shot, speed, passing… Everything.

He is a generational talent, and his ability to take over a game was a huge difference maker for the Leafs. Mitch Marner is amazing with the puck, able to draw three defenders towards him only to make a cross ice pass to Michael Bunting… Which bounced off a skate right to Matthew’s stick.

Marner’s play here is key as the pass would not have gotten through if he didn’t force the Lightning to respect him. The ice completely opened up and Matthews, like all great goal scorers before him, attracted the puck to his stick for snipe.

The main thing that makes their offense dangerous is their transition game. The SECOND the opposition makes a mistake, the Leafs are off to the races. The Lightning had 12 giveaways this game and the Leafs made each one of those seem like a dangerous scoring chance.

The Toronto Maple Leafs also never made it seem like their shot was just flinging it on goal with the hope that it will go in. The Lightning, on the other hand, didn’t really seem to have many moments where their SOG was dangerous. However, that was because of the  Leafs off-puck coverage in their own zone.

Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates a goal (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates a goal (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

2. Defense and Goaltending

The Toronto Maple Leafs are not exactly known for their defense OR goaltending, with Kyle Dubas attempting to acquire Marc-Andre Fleury at the deadline.

However, the Leafs did an amazing job stifling the Lightning by getting in the passing lanes and blocking shots. Something that was major was how they kept the Lightning to the outside, not allowing cross-ice passes. The cycle had nothing as the only available shots came from the point, which was heavily covered.

Even when the SOG did come, the defensemen did a great job in making sure there were minimal second-chance opportunities. One example would be when Mark Giordano followed the man rather than the puck. He showed his experience where the goaltender stopped the puck, but his man was still driving the net. Giordano followed through on his check, eliminating any chance the Lightning had. (stats naturalstattrick.com).

Goaltending was astounding as Jack Campbell managed to beat Vasilevskiy in the goaltending battle. While Vasilevskiy did not necessarily have the most help from his team, Campbell made the stops his team needed to drain the Lightning’s confidence and any kind of momentum they attempted to earn.

The Leafs are starting to be a complete team that plays a system that could be successful in the playoffs. As the team continues to find what makes them successful and that winning isn’t always fun, this team could finally be that Eastern Conference Stanley Cup contender we have been looking for.

TAMPA, FLORIDA – APRIL 04: Jan Rutta #44 of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ilya Mikheyev #65 of the Toronto Maple Leafs(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FLORIDA – APRIL 04: Jan Rutta #44 of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ilya Mikheyev #65 of the Toronto Maple Leafs(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

3. Play Away from the Puck

The Toronto Maple Leafs had an amazing forecheck last night, managing to mess up the Lightning’s breakout plays as they made life miserable for the puck carrier. As the Lightning tried to make cross-ice passes, the Maple Leafs had an active stick and kept the lanes covered.

Something that caught my attention was how fast they were to backcheck. Earning giveaways from the Lightning is no easy feat, yet the Leafs forced a shocking 12 from them. This was, again, from their superb defensive system and formation in defending the rush.

The  Leafs have that sandpaper in your lineup that you need to win. One of the main problems last season and the years before that was that the Leafs seemed to be physically intimidated by the opposition.

The Boston Bruins bullied them two seasons in a row, the Washington Capitals did the same in 2017, and the Leafs haven’t won a series in five seasons. However, things are starting to look up as they were prepared to play a gritty style last night, but managed to force the Lightning to play their style instead.

What do I mean? The Lightning thrive off of physicality, you can see that up and down their lineup. They grind opponents down and tire them out while their star players take over the game offensively. The Toronto Maple Leafs were prepared to play this style, but the way they forced the Lightning into uncomfortable situations. The Lightning were down 4-2 and had to find offense, falling into the skill game and few teams in the league can match the Leafs in that aspect.

Conclusion

The Toronto Maple Leafs had an amazing showing last night, thoroughly dominating the opposition in every facet of the game.

They forced the Lightning to play their skill and speed focused style, and made sure to capitalize on their mistakes. Matthews and Marner are an insane combination, with an elite playmaker and the best sniper in the league terrorizing the opposition.

Jack Campbell played amazingly, making sure that he made the stops his team needed, and the defense made life much easier for him with their positioning and willingness to block shots.

This should be very encouraging going into the final stretch. The star players are willing to play tough hockey to win important games, the system shows that it can match the best in the league. They have the chance to prove that they are a Stanley Cup contender yet again with a game against the division-leading Florida Panthers tonight.

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The Eastern Conference will be a bloodbath once again, but the Maple Leafs are a serious contender to make it out of the Atlantic division gauntlet.

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