Shorthanded Points
With the Leafs known for their “power kill” in recent years where they often generated legitimate scoring chances while a man short, it has hardly materialized come playoff time as they usually struggled on the overall penalty kill instead.
As a result, the leader in shorthanded points with 2 is the departed Alex Kerfoot, with only Marner, David Kampf and T.J. Brodie as the only current Leafs to have registered a short handed point since 2020. Perhaps if they can do some more damage on the kill, it could help keep their opponents on their toes and tilt the ice more in their favour going forward.
Shots on Goal
Without a doubt anyone could probably come up with this answer. By far, Matthews has been the leader by a wide margin, peppering a whopping 153 shots on net in just 32 games played.
Nylander comes in at a distant second with 101 shots on goal, but has been more successful than Matthews in converting them into goals with a shooting percentage close to 14%. If Matthews can start converting at that rate too, watch out!
Game-Winning Goals
Finally, there’s no one more clutch for the Leafs in the past few years than Matthews himself. Already ranked third among the all-time Leafs in game-winning goals during the regular season with 61, Matthews has produced five game winners since 2020, including the big one just recently to help the Leafs pull even 1-1 in the series against the Boston Bruins.
If Toronto were to continue to have success in the playoffs, Matthews will definitely be there to play a huge part in it. (All stats from NHL.com)
Hopefully, the Leafs overall can continue to improve on those statistical numbers this postseason and become a strong contender for the Stanley Cup as a result.