The Toronto Maple Leafs lead the Atlantic Division with a 13-6-2 record and 28 points in 21 games. Their success is attributed to their goaltending and defense.
These areas, which were once concerning for the Toronto Maple Leafs, are now thriving thanks to the defensive combination of Chris Tanev and Jake McCabe, as well as the goaltending tandem of Anthony Stolarz / Joseph Woll.
The Leafs are getting the best goaltending they've had since Jack Campell briefly won the job for parts of two seasons .
For a combined salary cap hit of $3.2 million this season, the Leafs goalies have been outstanding.
Toronto Maple Leafs goalies and top-pairing leading to success
Woll leads the NHL in goals against average with a 2.00 GA, and Stolarz leads the NHL in save percentage with a .927SV%. These stats are for goaltenders who have played seven or more games. (Salary cap information from puckpedia.com, Stats from hockey-reference.com).
On defense, the Leafs have two defense pairings in the NHL's top ten for the lowest expected goals against. The pairing of Chris Tanev and Jake McCabe leads the NHL at 1.32, while the pairing of Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson at 2.06 is also in the top ten, though weirdly the Leafs lose every other metric when they are paired together. The Leafs as a team are 5th in 5v5 Expected Goals against, and third in 5v5 save percentage.
Jake McCabe, Chris Tanev are a great top-pairing, and Morgan Rielly, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson round out a very solid top-four. However, they're not the only ones having a great start to their season. Conor Timmins has been on the ice for fewer goals against per minute at five-on-five than any other defenseman in the league this season. Even more surprising is that teammate Simon Benoit is second.
These six defensemen, along with Jani Hakanpaa, are playing solid defense for the Leafs. They're blocking shots, hitting often, and winning puck battles. Having Stolarz and Woll playing great behind them helps as well. Another thing to point out is that the forwards have also bought into the new system as well, and the team is playing well defensively from top to bottom.