The Toronto Maple Leafs are Winning by Committee

The Toronto Maple Leafs have earned a point in 13 straight games.

Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe and his team have gone an entire month without losing in regulation.

Their last regulation loss was on November 11th against the Pittsburgh Penguins. During that 13-game stretch, their record is 10-0-3, earning them 23 out of 26 possible points.

Most recently, the Toronto Maple Leafs are coming off back-to-back shutouts. They combined for nine goals in those two games. Although the scoring has been great, it is not the most impressive thing about this team. Their recent success is a combined effort from everyone on the team to play well defensively.

Toronto is the third-best defensive team in the NHL right now. It is helping them win games and not allowing injuries to affect their overall performance. As of Friday morning, the Maple Leafs are second overall in the NHL with 40 points. They are three points behind the Boston Bruins (43), but Boston has three games in hand.

Toronto got off to a slow start in October with a 4-4-2 record but has since gone 13-1-4. Those stats are impressive, considering Toronto leads the NHL in man games lost due to injury. It has all come down to every player understanding their assignments and playing well without the puck.

Toronto Maple Leafs Looking Good

As a whole, the Toronto Maple Leafs are playing great hockey. The forwards are firing on all cylinders, the defense looks great, and the goaltending is performing above expectations.

Forwards

Toronto is getting bang for its buck from the core four. Leading the way is Mitch Marner with 33 points in 28 games. He is riding a 21-game point streak going into Saturday’s game against the Calgary Flames.

Auston Matthews is right behind him with 31 points in 28 games. Matthews got off to a slow start but has scored goals in five of his last six games and is now more or less back to where he was last season.

William Nylander is leading the team in goals with 15 and has 28 points in 28 games. Captain John Tavares rounds out the core four with 27 points in 28 games. (Stats from hockey-reference.com)

Defense

Toronto’s defense has been hit hard with injuries this season.

Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, T.J. Brodie, Timothy Liljegren, Jordie Benn, and Victor Mete have all spent time on injured reserve this season. Some would consider that crippling, but not Toronto. The Maple Leafs’ defense has come together to overcome adversity.

The young tandem of Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren is getting better with every game. Veteran Mark Giordano is leading by example. The 39-year-old has 58 blocked shots. Justin Holl has elevated his game since being paired with Giordano. Newcomer Conor Timmins looks good so far since being traded to Toronto. It is a total group effort, and fans are noticing.

Goaltending

Toronto’s goaltending was a big question mark before the season started. It became an even bigger question mark when Matt Murray got hurt in game one of the season. The team had to rely heavily on Ilya Samsonov. To his credit played well, but he got hurt on November 3rd against Boston. For a while, the Toronto Maple Leafs were playing with a tandem of AHL goaltenders in the net.

Since Murray and Samsonov have returned from injury, they have been lights out. Both are in the NHL’s top ten for goals against average (Samsonov: 1.87 GAA, Murray: 2.34 GAA) and are also in the top three for save percentage (Samsonov: .933 SV%, Murray: .932 SV%).

Every season has highs and lows for every team. With the number of injuries Toronto is battling through, this should be a low point for them, but they are persevering. Hopefully, the Toronto Maple Leafs can keep finding success in December and the new year.