4 Things the Toronto Maple Leafs Must Do to Overcome the Bruins
By David Agnew
Shoot, Shoot, and Shoot Some More
On average, NHL teams score goals on roughly 10% of their shots on goal. Obviously, snipers such as Auston Matthews will score on a higher percentage of their shots (18.7% in the regular season this year), while many others will come in lower than 10%.
So far this year, of the 16 teams that made it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, one unfortunate team sits in 16th place (and it’s not even close) with a 6% shooting percentage. Who might that team be?
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your Toronto Maple Leafs!!
If Toronto just matched its regular season success rate of 11.2%, they would have 11 goals for in this series rather than 6. They would certainly be leading the series 2-1, and quite possibly be heading into Game 4 with a 3-0 lead.
Giving credit where it’s due, Boston’s goaltending has been good all year, and Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark have continued to provide strong results so far through 3 games. But we aren’t talking vintage Martin Brodeur or Patrick Roy heroics here.
Simply put, Toronto Maple Leafs shooters have been extremely unlucky in this series, and it’s about time that luck changed. The best way to help this inevitable reversal along is to shoot, and shoot often. The Leafs have put an impressive average of 33 shots per game on the Boston net so far. However, 40 shots would be even better.
The law of averages has to catch up sooner or later. I mean, it’s a law, right?