Through 46 games, the Toronto Maple Leafs have averaged 29.0 shots allowed per game. That’s nearly one full shot per game more than the NHL average, and it should give fans a prickle of fear that it could serve as an ultimate drawback for their team.
That’s the bad news, but it doesn’t need to be all doom and gloom here. Why? Well, it turns out that the Maple Leafs have a pretty decent track record in another metric: save percentage.
Just how good are they at stopping opponents from finding the net? Oh, you can say better than good. With a save percentage of 0.902, it puts the Leafs nearly a full percentage point higher than the NHL average of 0.894, and that number could keep climbing after this team buys at the trade deadline.
So, how good, when ranked against the rest of the NHL, have the Leafs gotten? Let’s just say they’re one of the better teams in the East and among the top overall.
Maple Leafs are currently seventh in the league in save percentage
Ordinarily, when teams allow a lot of shots on goal, they’re prone to allowing a lot of goals, even if they have a pretty decent save percentage. But not the Leafs, who are behind just one team right now that is not in playoff contention, that team being the Anaheim Ducks. Let’s have a look at the grand list:
- Winnipeg Jets: 0.916
- Washington Capitals: 0.911
- Dallas Stars: 0.907
- Minnesota Wild: 0.906
- Los Angeles Kings: 0.904
- Anaheim Ducks: 0.903
- Toronto Maple Leafs: 0.902
- Tampa Bay Lightning: 0.902
- New Jersey Devils: 0.902
- Vegas Golden Knights: 0.901
- New York Rangers: 0.900
- Ottawa Senators: 0.900
- Calgary Flames: 0.898
- St. Louis Blues: 0.896
- Edmonton Oilers: 0.896
- San Jose Sharks: 0.894
- Utah Hockey Club: 0.894
- Nashville Predators: 0.893
- New York Islanders: 0.892
- Detroit Red Wings: 0.891
- Carolina Hurricanes: 0.890
- Chicago Blackhawks: 0.889
- Seattle Kraken: 0.889
- Boston Bruins: 0.889
- Montreal Canadiens: 0.888
- Florida Panthers: 0.886
- Buffalo Sabres: 0.884
- Pittsburgh Penguins: 0.883
- Colorado Avalanche: 0.883
- Vancouver Canucks: 0.883
- Columbus Blue Jackets: 0.881
- Philadelphia Flyers: 0.872
As you can see, not all contenders are gracing the top 16, but for the Leafs, a team that has routinely allowed a higher-than-average number of shots on goal, they need to stay not just in the top half of the field, but the top 10. That said, if their goaltenders stay on form, they’ll be fine as the inevitable ‘down the stretch’ period of the season commences.