Making goalies look good
Don't get me wrong, Montembeault and Shesterkin both played very well against the Leafs. The problem is the Leafs have had a problem with making goalies look good since the beginning of the Matthews era.
The Leafs did hit five posts by my count in the loss to Montreal. That is partially the puck luck not being there but they didn't get enough traffic in front of Montembeault. The Leafs have been shooting more from the point and I don't mind that but you need to get traffic in front of the net if you're going to do that. Giving goalies clean looks on shots from the point will never be effective.
They did a better job getting deflections and traffic against the Rangers but it still could've been better.
We saw the Leafs get dominated by Swayman in the playoffs last year. They rarely beat Swayman clean all series but began to find success when they got bodies in front of him and started throwing pucks on the net. Bounces off of skates and bodies are bound to happen when you do that which can create luck for yourself.
In the only series win in the Matthews era, the Leafs were able to make Vasilevskiy look very human. They did a great job taking away Vasilevskiy's eyes with good screens and throwing pucks towards the net.
If the Leafs want success against top goalies that's how they're going to get it done.