The Toronto Maple Leafs have been as inconsistent as any team in the NHL so far this season. At times, they have looked like one of the best teams in hockey, but then, on other nights, they have looked terrible.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a team that has clear problems - lack of centres, no high-end defenseman, rough looking bottom-six - but so many stars that on most nights they are going to beat any team that comes there way. That's exactly what they did last night - they just played a solid, low-event game against a weaker team and came out on top.
In last night's 4-1 win over the Seattle Kraken, the Leafs again struggled on the power-play, but and it was a somewhat boring and uneventful game, and the Leafs stars were the difference - the Leafs must have six or seven players better than Seattle's best guy.
Nylander, after lobbying for more ice-time which he did not get, scored twice and was the Leafs best player and the line of Nylander, Tavares and Pacioretty was the Leafs best.
William Nylander gets the Toronto Maple Leafs a win vs Kraken
The Maple Leafs did not have their best game last night and did not dominate the Kraken, despite what the 4-1 final score might tell you. The Leafs were only able to outshoot the Kraken by three at 5v5 and by five total. They failed to capitalize on either of their powerplay opportunities. Overall, this game had a different pace than we are accustomed to seeing when Toronto takes the ice.
Since Berube's hiring, we've heard nonstop that he is going to get these guys to play the "right way" by preaching all the typical hockey cliché terms.
Rather than breaking out the cliches to describe this style of play, I will call it boring hockey.
Boring hockey is exactly what the Leafs should strive to play. Much of the excitement in a hockey game comes from when players make mistakes, which results in exciting scoring chances going the other way. Leafs fans are familiar with this, but last night against the Kraken, the Maple Leafs did a great job of clearing pucks from their own end, dumping pucks in, and getting on the forecheck when there wasn't a clear zone entry opportunity.
While this may seem like minor differences, simply dumping for pucks in, whether you create a turnover on the forecheck or not, limits high-danger turnovers that we have seen plague the Leafs for years.
It may not be the most exciting hockey to watch, but it works. In the win against the Kraken, the Maple Leafs only gave up five high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five and six total for the game (via NaturalStatTrick). That is a recipe for success.
They did not dominate the Kraken; they just did an excellent job of moving their feet but not chasing and keeping the puck to the perimeter of the ice. In addition to the great defensive effort, we saw the Leafs take advantage of the Kraken's mistakes, leaving William Nylander open on the doorstep twice and falling asleep on the final faceoff of the first period. Matthew Knies would score the game's first goal with four seconds left in the period off of great plays from Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.
This win and the Leafs style of play had Craig Berube's fingerprints all over them. They made simple plays, did not take unnecessary risks, and relied on their structure and skill to beat a weaker opponent. Berube is coaching a boring style of hockey that is conducive to winning consistently. Now, it is up to the Leafs players to consistently bring that effort, which we have yet to see under any coach.
We will see if the Maple Leafs can string three in a row on Saturday night when they get another chance at Berube's former team, the St. Louis Blues.