By way of eight playoff video games in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs are 6-2. They’ve upped their goals-per-game from 3.26 to three.5, they’re permitting 5 fewer photographs in opposition to per recreation, they usually’re simply typically discovering a means.
Perhaps the Panthers will determine them out, and win this factor in six or seven. Perhaps a lot of what has gone proper for the Leafs will abruptly begin to go the different means. Who can say? However the following isn’t a prediction, it’s an statement. When you’ve watched this staff carefully all 12 months, it’s not simply that they give the impression of being different from earlier seasons, which has been the massive query they’ve tried to reply all 12 months lengthy. It’s that additionally they look different from themselves in the common season in sure, playoff-like methods.
Let me elaborate. Here is how the Leafs are different via eight playoff video games from the common season.
Small space passing, notably on breakouts
One criticism my cohost on Actual Kyper and Bourne has typically had about the Leafs is that they don’t go it notably effectively. And to Nick’s defence, they do have a bunch of fellows whose choice is to shoot over go, which offensively isn’t such a foul factor. However it might be irritating to look at on breakouts, the place they’d so typically search for a stretch go, or simply financial institution it off the glass and out into the impartial zone.
However to date versus two exhausting forechecks from Ottawa and Florida, they’re additionally having relative success making small-area passes that enable their linemates the time and house to get the puck transferring out of the zone. Utilizing passing knowledge from Stathletes: the Leafs are averaging over three extra passes per 60 in the defensive zone to date in the playoffs, and once more, that’s in opposition to playoff groups with good forechecks.
After they use their linemates past the defensive zone, it could look as fairly as the Max Domi aim, the place 4 Leafs contact it, and none of them skates with it for various strides:
Unwavering dedication to defence
Since the commerce deadline which noticed the Leafs add Brandon Carlo and Scott Laughton, the Leafs haven’t been an entire lot of enjoyable for offensive gamers to play in opposition to. That was March 7, and between then and the season’s finish the Leafs have been fourth in targets allowed at 5-on-5, permitting only one greater than Winnipeg and St. Louis who have been tied for second.
In the common season, the Leafs have been eleventh in shot blocks, averaging 16.41 per recreation. In the playoffs, they’re averaging 21.15, a whopping .02 out of first place (Washington). By uncooked totals, they’ve blocked 41 extra photographs than Dallas, who has the next-most behind them.
It’s simply actually exhausting to get pucks via in opposition to the Leafs proper now.
They’ve needed to have heavyweights in the previous, and we’ve seen them in the playoffs with guys like Kyle Clifford and Ryan Reaves. However this 12 months they’ve had extra of a staff dedication to being bodily, which they’ve taken to a different stage in the playoffs.
Common season hits per recreation: 23.73
Playoff hits per recreation: 32.14
It’s softening up defences for them to create offensive house, with which they are often so harmful.
It’s not new that the Leafs are bodily giant, in the league’s high 5 in each top and weight. The best way they’re throwing their measurement round is making it exhausting for opponents to play the bully, and in the playoffs, that posture has been robust to face as much as.
Going in to Sport 2, listed here are two boards we ran on the broadcast:
Right here’s the actuality: the earlier level I made about how they’ve settled in on defence has given them the safety to make the proper performs on offence, together with leaping up in the rush when that chance arises. When individuals say good groups are constructed from the internet out, that’s what this is. You defend effectively, you belief your staff defence, you possibly can activate extra, and abruptly you create extra offence, too.
Wednesday night time I noticed a tweet shared by my man Ben Ennis, which he posted for the objective of speaking about the Leafs resilience (as he says in that thread):
They don’t go away when it begins going incorrect. We noticed Max Pacioretty rating simply minutes after David Perron tied it up for the Sens in Sport 6 of the first spherical, similar to we noticed Mitch Marner rating 17 seconds after Florida tied it up in Sport 2.
We’ve seen Toronto’s goalie clipped and go away the recreation, we’ve seen officers name virtually completely fabricated penalties, and we’ve seen gentle targets go in in opposition to them. And nonetheless, there doesn’t appear to be any actual panic to their recreation, they only hold enjoying the proper means, and belief that typically, the outcomes will shake out in their favour. They’re behaving in the picture of their coach.
All 12 months lengthy we held the “Are the Leafs different” debate, and certain, as a rule the reply was sure. That they had higher defence, higher goaltending and a few extra staff grit. We believed these issues would assist them incrementally in the playoffs, and once you lose by a aim in Sport 7 additional time (as they did final season), any incremental positive aspects can be significant.
That they’ve taken strides to be different from not simply earlier years, but additionally this common season, ought to elevate some eyebrows. It may all change in a flash, however as issues stand after a pair video games in the second spherical, the Leafs are presenting the finest model of a Core 4 period staff but.
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