The Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending and defense has been excellent so far

The Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending situation is now a source of strength, at least after three games!

Despite the absense of Joseph Woll, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had three games of solid goaltending to kick off the new NHL season.

Heading into this season, my colleagues and I here at Editor in Leaf were greatly concerned about the Leafs situation in the crease. The Leafs failed to add a bona fide number-one netminder, and instead, the club signed Anthony Stolarz and extended Joseph Woll.

Things took a turn for the worse when Woll got hurt ahead of the Leafs season opener. Immediately, alarm sirens went off. Woll hadn’t even played a game and was already on the shelf. That situation necessitated Hildeby’s recall from the Marlies with Stolarz becoming the de facto starter.

And, guess what?

The Leafs are 2-1 on the season, giving up five goals in three games, just two at 5v5. I don’t think anyone saw that coming. If anything, most fans anticipated some tough games to start the season. Instead, the Toronto Maple Leafs have looked solid, playing strong defense, and getting timely scoring across the lineup.

Does this mean the Leafs problems are solved in the crease? Not quite, but so far so good.

Credit to the Toronto Maple Leafs defense

In the first three games this season, the Leafs look pretty good, although it's hard to tell because they have played two bad teams and one that just got back from Europe. The main difference between Keefe and Berube so far seems to be that the new-look Leafs shoot from everywhere.

The Leafs are racking up the shots and the shot-attempts, but more importantly, they are limited dangerous chances and making life easy for their goalies. Through three games, the Leafs have 32 dangerous chances while allowing just 12. That is 72% of the dangerous chances and the best percentage in the NHL.

That approach has enabled the Leafs netminders to make the saves they need to make rather than having to bail out the club’s defensive miscues.

Across the board, the team has rallied, playing a tighter style while focusing on solid transitions out of the zone. Those transitions have allowed the Leafs to generate scoring chances.

But most importantly, the Leafs have been able to finish off the scoring chances they’ve had. That style has allowed the Leafs to enter the third period with the lead in their last two games. Then, a strong third-period style has predominated in which the Leafs have taken the play to the opposition.

It’s worth pointing out that the Leafs have played just about the easiest schedule you could have asked for so far, and of course, only time will tell if this is a flash in the pan or the start of something special.

It won't be until the playoffs roll around that we’ll be able to determine how far the Leafs have come this season. But, so far, so good.