The Toronto Maple Leafs aren't perfect this season. They have a 1-2-0 record after Saturday night's loss to the Ottawa Senators. Just looking at that win-loss ratio could cause some panic but they are looking so much better than their record suggests -- and the games are roughly a million times more enjoyable to watch than last season.
But, there is one thing that is perfect so far for the Leafs and we can thank John Chayka and the rest of the front office and coaching staff for that. And no one is really talking about it through the first three games.
The Leafs' penalty kill is a perfect 10-for-10 to start the season.
Maple Leafs' penalty kill is perfect to start this pivotal season
It would feel like an impossible feat at times but the Leafs' penalty killing unit has not allowed a power-play goal against through their first three games. Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev are even better than expected defensively (and the expectations were high) as they are shutting down any inside scoring chances and forming this incredibly vital duo for the Leafs blue line, and on the penalty kill.
But those guys were already here and we knew they would at least be very good defensively. It's the new guys who have come in and taken on this defensive responsibility so darn well that is impressive.
For the forward group that is on the penalty kill, all of the important players are brand new to this team. Colton Sissons leads the charge with 9:16 time-on-ice shorthanded, but Nick Paul, Teddy Blueger, and Brandon Duhaime are right behind him, all having played over eight minutes on the penalty kill so far.
It's incredibly impressive that these four forwards have come in to a new team, not really being familiar with each other at all, and have formed this group that is literally perfect so far this Leafs season.
Maple Leafs deserve to be perfect shorthanded
Teams can kill every penalty they face but really it's their goaltender who is standing on their head and making them look good. Thankfully, that isn't really the case with the Leafs as we look under the hood.
The Leafs rank 11th in the NHL in terms of shots on goal against per 60 on the penalty kill so far, according to Evolving-Hockey. It's an extremely small sample size, but that's all we have right now. They're in that upper-third of the league when it comes to allowing shots on goal against while shorthanded. The only thing is that they could be better when it comes to general attempts -- they rank 24th in shot attempts against rate, 22nd in unblocked shot attempts against rate, and 24th in expected goals against rate shorthanded.
There is room for improvement but they're doing the crucial things well right now: Not allowing shots on goal and not allowing any actual goals.
Last season, this was one of the few things that the team did well -- they had the sixth-fewest goals against per 60 while shorthanded -- so hopefully that can continue. It would be even more impressive with a new coaching staff and a whole new unit performing the same way.
The Leafs have their next opportunity to continue being perfect on the penalty kill when they host the Nashville Predators next Tuesday.
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