Power Play Struggles
The Leafs power play has been tough to watch this season and has been a talking point all year.
At the time I'm writing this, the Leafs are sitting 18th in the league in power play percentage at 20.5 percent (stats from ESPN.com). That is completely unacceptable, given the talent they have access to.
Last year, one of the biggest reasons they lost to Boston was their struggles on the power play. Through seven games, the Leafs went an abysmal 4.8 percent on the power play, which was a contributor to their scoring struggles.
Typically, their power play is solid in the regular season, but this season has been terrible. The Leafs have battled injuries all year and that could be one of the reasons it has looked so poor, but they need to figure this out before the playoffs.
It shouldn't be that hard - the Leafs seem like they are just overthinking things. The power-play should just be two-straight minutes of Matthews and Nylander alternating shots. By simplifying the process down to its most basic level, the Leafs will finally find success.
If the power play performs like it did last year, they will be a first-round exit once again.