Toronto Maple Leafs: A Half season in Review (So Far So Good)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have played 43 games so far this season, they are nine points behind Boston, and have a six point lead on the third-place Lightning.

It’s been a good year for the Leafs so far, who don’t really haver anything left to prove in the regular season.

For the first 30 games of the Toronto Maple Leafs season, I broke it down into three ten game segments.

The first ten were a little shaky, starting with a loss on opening night to the hated Montreal Canadiens, and exasperated by an injury to one of their newly signed goaltenders, Matt Murray. With only 4 wins in the first ten games Leafs Nation was reeling and calling for everyone’s head, Kyle Dubas and Sheldon Keefe need to be fired, Mitch Marner and William Nylander need to be traded, or the whole thing needed to be stripped down and start the “dishonour for Connor” season.

Toronto Maple Leafs Ten Game Segments:

First ten games: 4-4-2
Games 11-20: 6-1-3
Games 21-30: 9-0-1
Games 31-41: 6-4-1
Overall record: 25-9-7

Fortunately, the Leafs got it back on the rails and had an incredible run from games 11 to 30, going 15-1-4 over that stretch, getting 34 of a possible 40 points in the standings.

As we all know, winning cures all that ails you, and the fan base quieted down, and it was nothing but love for all.

The goaltending duo of Ilya Samsonov and Murray, which was being called a disaster before either even hit the ice, was shining bright and not only keeping the Maple Leafs in every game, but winning games for the team. Injuries that ravaged the blue line in this stretch, and the forwards stepped up in a big way to help the entire team play a structured game focused on preventing scoring chances.

The last 11 games the goaltending has deviated a bit towards the mean so the results have not been great but they have been fairly steady.

6-4-1 with a couple of close losses leaves the Maple Leafs still at the top of the NHL standings. Oddly enough, this mediocre streak coincided with Morgan Reilly returning to the lineup, causing some to call for Reilly to be vanquished from the team, but this is just a coincidence. The season will have its ups and downs, and Morgan Reilly will have a big part in where the Maple Leafs end up at the end of the season.

Nov 5, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov (35) Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /

Toronto Maple Leafs Current Position in Standings:

2nd in Atlantic Division
2nd in Eastern Conference
2nd in NHL

Typically, such a favourable position in the league standings would be an equally favourable first round match up for the playoffs, but the current playoff format does no favours for the Leafs.

Another first round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning seems to be a lock at this point, unless the Buffalo Sabres can somehow continue the run they are on and the Lightning hit a wall.

For now, it seems safe to say that it is Leafs/Lightning, round 1, and the team should be preparing for this for the next four months.

Whatever it takes to get them ready for this match up, this should be the top priority. Whether it is acquiring depth on the blue line, revamping the middle six, or making a big splash for a top six forward, the Maple Leafs have no excuse to not get themselves ready for a first round battle with Tampa Bay.

Leafs Current NHL Rankings

Goals for: 141 ( 6th in NHL )
Goals against: 108 ( 4th in NHL )
Goal differential: +33 ( 3rd in NHL )

Last season the Maple Leafs finished second in the league in goals for and a paltry 18th in goals against. ( per NHL.com )

This season, the scoring has dipped just a bit, but the goals against have improved drastically. If the goaltending can remain solid and the team continues to keep their focus on team defence, the Maple Leafs could be in for a record breaking season in keeping the puck out of the net.

The scoring chances, and the goals, will come eventually, but the team should remain focused on keeping the puck out of their zone and, therefore, out of their net. It may mean Matthews and Marner won’t crack 100 points this year, and Matthews may not win the rocket, but team success needs to be the top priority here.

Jan 3, 2023; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews . Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /

Matthews Rocket Richard Watch:

Goals per 10 games:
First ten games: 3 goals
Games 11-20: 6 goals
Games 21-30: 6 goals
Games 31-41: 5 goals
Season Total: 20 goals
Odds to win Rocket: +2800 ( visit WynnBet for all the latest odds )

Now at the halfway point of the season, Auston Matthews has 20 goals, on pace for 40 by the end of the season.

By many standards this would be considered an excellent season, William Nylander is currently on pace to surpass 40 goals this season and that would be considered a remarkable, career year for Willy.

For Matthews, however, this is a letdown. Auston Matthews has shown he has an incredible knack for scoring in the NHL, and this year he just has not gotten hot. The scoring has been fairly consistent, if you look at the breakdown of ten game segments, but I fully expect a hot stretch to come at some point this season.

Perhaps even another long stretch of scoring, much like his 51 goals in 50 games last season. 40 goals over the next 41 games is not completely out of the realm of possibility for Matthews, but it may be unreasonable to just expect it. What I do expect is one or two streaks of 10 goals in five or six games, and for him to be back in the Rocket race by the end of the season.

As I mentioned earlier, this is not in anyway a top priority for Matthews or the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it is still worth monitoring the best goal scorer in the world.

Next 10 Games

Seven of the Toronto Maple Leafs next ten games will be played at Scotiabank Arena, where they have a pretty good record of 13-3-4.

It is a winnable stretch of games for Toronto, with an importance on divisional matchups taking up five of the ten games.

The pesky Ottawa Senators and struggling Florida Panther visit Toronto over this stretch, and the Maple Leafs visit Detroit, the hated Montreal Canadiens, and the dreaded Boston Bruins.

Obviously the biggest test for the Maple Leafs over this stretch comes in Boston against the Bruins, the second of three meeting this season, and first at TD Garden.

Boston has had a scorching hot start to the season, currently sitting at the top of the NHL standings, and by a wide margin.

With a record overall of 30-4-4, it may seem like a daunting task for the Maple Leafs to come away with a victory, but one of those 4 losses came in Toronto.

The Bruins have yet to lose in regulation at home ( 19-0-3 ), making this a huge benchmark game for the Maple Leafs.

With the recent news that Auston Matthews is dealing with an injury and will miss at least one or two games, this stretch could prove to be even tougher.

Next. The Leafs Now Have 3 Franchise Players. dark

Hopefully he can make it back for the Saturday night game versus the Bruins. The Maple Leafs need their best players to show up big in the biggest moments, I can’t wait to see what they do in this game, with or without Matthews.

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