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The Toronto Maple Leafs took on the Minnesota Wild last night in a game that was, in certain respects, very much one sided. Outshot 37-14 for the game, the Leafs really had no business winning this one last night as it was goaltending once again that would prevail for the Buds.
Off to a strong start with a well-executed power-play goal from Tyler Bozak, the Leafs took an early lead which they followed up with another by recent call up Trevor Smith. Despite being outshot 17-3 in the first period alone, the Leafs were able to start the second period with a 2-1 lead over the Wild. Not only would the Leafs be heavily outshot in just one period, but they would also take five penalties despite only allowing one goal out of five penalty kill attempts for that period.
Moving into the second, the Leafs tightened up their defensive play enough to keep shots down to 6-4 in favor of the Wild and Mason Raymond would get the lone goal during a power-play to give the Leafs a two goal lead. With about as many giveaways as they allowed shots on net, the Leafs would somehow manage to keep the game going in their favor as the third period would also only allow one empty net goal providing Raymond with his second of the night.
That said, the empty netter was a little more special than usual as Phil Kessel would show fans out there just how unselfish he can be and further, just how close this team might be.
“It was a classy move on his part,” said Raymond. “To be honest, I was trying to pass him the puck. Just so unselfish. A very kind thing to do.”
While Toronto currently sits in first place in the Eastern Conference with but one loss so far this year, some feel that their luck may soon run dry given that they currently sit 21st in the league in SF/G ratio. Furthermore, Toronto is currently the 4th worst team in the league in terms of penalties taken – not a healthy stat to own given that you’re already allowing far too many shots against per game. Whats more, the Leafs are currently ranked 1st overall in give-aways with 119...followed by Winnipeg at 76.
It is only natural that a team which possesses numbers such as the above would fall in the standings, but somehow the Leafs have managed to win games which they shoud have no business winning. So where does the credit fall? Quite simply, the majority of the credit goes to their goaltending and specialty teams.
It has been a long time since fans of this team could say, with confidence, that they have had two strong goaltenders and seemingly no issues with respect to their specialty teams. Whether you have watched the majority of Toronto games this year or not, there is one area of their game which is a clear strength, and that’s goaltending.
Despite many fans feeling that Jon Bernier has all but taken over as the starting goaltender for the Leafs, James Reimer had something else to say about it last night with a tremendous effort between the pipes. Had it not been for his strong play, that game could have ended rather poorly for this group given the shot differential and penalties taken throughout the periods.
While Bernier still has two games over Reimer and holds a current GAA of 1.75 in comparison to Reimer’s 3.18, both tenders have very respectable SV%’s of .946 and .916, respectably. With the ability to start either goaltender with confidence at the present time, Toronto has a very good problem to have; two starting goaltenders, playing great hockey.
With that being said, having such a dominant area covered for the team allows for other facets to become strong themselves. With the hard work and confident play of both netminders, the Leafs currently sit 3rd league wide in both their power-play(33.3%) and penalty-kill(88.9%). While these numbers will certainly fluctuate throughout the year, it is rather evident that the strength of their goaltending has a lot to do with the wins which they have managed to secure so far this year.
And all this is not to say that beyond their goaltending they do not have a lot working for them, because they do. Scoring goals is understandably the most important factor when it comes to winning games, and the Leafs currently sit 4th in the league in goals per game. Having Joffrey Lupul, Mason Raymond, and Phil Kessel all sitting in the top 20 scorers list doesn’t hurt, either.
Furthermore, while having confidence that your tender will make the extra save is always a nice thing to hold, defensive stats such as shot blocking and hits are a must. Currently ranked 4th overall in blocked shots and first overall in hits, there are clearly areas in Toronto’s success throughout their games which have gone unnoticed to this point.
Most of what was mentioned above should be no real surprise to anyone who watches these games attentively, and the coaching staff and players are very much aware of the areas in which they need to improve, despite sitting 6-0-1 to start off the year.
"Again, we're in a situation that it's hard to be critical when you're getting points," he said. "We're not going to continue to accept what's happening, but we have to find a way to mold this from a different angle that our level of play has to increase." - Randy Carlyle
It is natural that coach Randy Carlyle and the group will take some time to work on their possession numbers, shots for and most importantly against. Although it seems that Toronto may be getting a few too many lucky bounces or spectacular saves from their goaltenders, it appears that the little things they are doing are translating to wins, too. There is still plenty of games remaining and tons of room for improvement from all NHL teams this year, and the Leafs are taking it one game at a time.
To move away from the team play, I would like to comment on one player in particular who has really impressed me over the last couple of games. This particular young man has stepped on the ice as a fresh NHL player this season and yet you would think he has at least five seasons under his belt.
The rookie I’m speaking of is none other than Morgan Rielly. The 19 year old defenseman is currently logging around 17mins per game and although he is the only defenseman sitting with a negative +/-, he is their third best defenseman in points(3) and has the least amount of penalty minutes taken to date(2).
With such strong skating and hockey IQ, Morgan is able to move the puck with confidence and at times show that he can hold onto it a little while longer when necessary to avoid making mistakes. As I carefully try and assess rookies making their way into the NHL there are certain aspects of their game I watch for; positioning, strength, skating/speed, physicality.
While Rielly isn’t a bruising defenseman, his strength on his skates is quite evident as he finds ways to outmuscle full time NHLers and remove them of the puck as demonstrated last night against Zenon Konopka. I will find it quite hard to believe that there is any chance that Randy Carlyle or Dave Nonis has any intention of sending this rookie down as his play so far has been nothing short of what is required of an NHL defenseman.
As the Leafs near their 10th game mark and await the return of David Clarkson, they may soon have a full healthy roster by said date. With only three games remaining in Clarkson’s suspension, the Leafs are likely to have Frazer McLaren back in the lineup who has recently been skating with the team, Nikolai Kulemin who is expected to return around the 22nd for their game against the Ducks, and not long after Mark Fraser who is expected back toward the end of the month at the earliest.
Given their injuries so far, the Leafs have done quite well shutting down their opponents and the addition of said players could only help out in that regard. It is as good a time as any to let a few rookies step in and gain experience which allows the Leafs brass to get a closer look at who they have available to them for future games. That said, rookies Josh Leivo and David Broll had strong games for the Leafs as call ups so far, and Trevor Smith displayed some strong play of his own last night during the Wild game.
All things considered, the Leafs have some decent options available to them carrying forward which pays dividends as the year progresses and the points really begin to matter. While Toronto’s wins so far haven’t been “pretty”, the most important stats vital to a successful team is what will continue to hold them together this year, provided of course that they are maintained.
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One final thought for this week’s blog – it was noted that Oilers GM Craig MacTavish was calling just about every GM over the past few days inquiring about the availability of all goalies as they have an urgent need for improvement in that area.
Toronto currently being in a position of strength and possessing two starting tenders could take advantage of said need, but is there a deal to be made between the two? I guess we will have to wait and see.
That’s all for this week folks, thanks for reading!
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
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