The Toronto Maple Leafs have never won the Presidents’ Trophy. And while it’s hard to imagine that drought will end this season with how well the Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets are playing, they’re priming themselves to exorcise some playoff demons that have possessed them over the years.
One way for this team to get past the First Round and occasionally the Second Round is to improve weaknesses. We can all agree that would be the quickest way forward. But another way is to keep playing to their strengths.
Below, there are three major areas of the game in which the Leafs have dominated throughout the regular season. If they keep it up following the 4 Nations break and beyond, they might just entertain their fans in more than just the regular season.
1 - Keep dominating in the net at 5-on-5
I never expected Toronto to possess one of the better netminding units in hockey, but here they are, dominating the league with a 0.929 save percentage at 5-on-5, a full percentage point over the 0.919 NHL average.
So far, Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz have played better than advertised, and it has to excite Leafs fans about their team's chances this season. Play in the crease had to improve for Toronto this season if they wanted to truly become a dominant team not just in the regular season, but the playoffs.
They’re seeing to that and unless this dynamic duo experiences some unprecedented meltdown, don’t be surprised if the Leafs prime themselves to at least contend for the top seed in the Atlantic. And yes, that’ll further put them in a better position to finally exorcise the playoff demons.
2 - Special teams MUST keep clicking
You look at the Maple Leafs power play, and it’s one of the better units in the league. Heading into Saturday afternoon, the Leafs have scored on 23.49 percent of their opportunities, and they’re ahead of the NHL’s 21.33 average.
That’s good enough, but Toronto’s special teams overall have been among the NHL’s best with a penalty kill unit denying opponents 80.25 percent of the time. The rest of the NHL has averaged 78.67. Not incredibly lower, but it shows the Leafs PK is at least above average with the potential to be great.
Heading into the ‘down the stretch’ phase and before we know it, the playoffs, special teams grow even more essential. Take advantage of the opportunities given and deny those of your opponents. The Leafs have seen to that and it must continue if a deep playoff run is on the cards.
3 - Make the most of high-danger chances
The Maple Leafs are on the wrong side of 50 percent for high-danger chances at 5-on-5, clocking in at 48.9 heading into Saturday’s slate. They’re also slightly below the league’s average of high-danger chances created with 392 as opposed to that average of 405. Not a big deal, but it shows they need to make the most of those chances.
Luckily for the Leafs, they’ve converted 40 of those chances this season while the overall average sits at 38. As you may’ve guessed, their conversion percentage sits at a healthy 9.3 while the NHL lags behind at 8.6.
This means the Leafs don’t need to forge more high-danger chances; they need to keep converting them. Should the Leafs keep that pace up, they’ll be just fine following the 4 Nations break and throughout the back half of the season.