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Leafs racking up the points in Overtime/Shootout + Rielly

December 8, 2017, 12:51 PM ET [91 Comments]
Lucas Neilson
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Last season the Maple Leafs struggled closing games they had commanding leads in as well as failure to collect the extra point in overtime and shootouts. This year is completely different in that regard, the Leafs have been quite dominant when playing 3 on 3 as well as having some clutch finishers and solid goaltending in the shootout.

When looking at last season’s third period meltdowns and subpar record in OT/SO, the Leafs simply cost themselves a better seed for the playoffs due to their lack of finish in these situations which has surely been rectified out the gates in 2017. Perhaps the players are more experienced now (not eight rookies), as well as Andersen standing tall for the boys. Whichever way you want to shake it, I feel the Leafs haven’t exactly deserved the quality record that they have.

They have battled through a few rough patches and certainly won a few games they shouldn’t have. Wednesday night’s game versus Calgary is one of them; Andersen was light’s out and won the Leafs that game and the two points, no doubt about it.

In Andersen’s last twelve games he’s gone 9-2-1 with a 1.79 goals against average and a .949 save percent and two shutouts.

With the number of goals scored so far this season, these stats are elite. That’s one solid stretch by the Leafs net minder and a big reason why the Leafs have been able to win more than they have lost. The forwards and defense must be part of the reason why there has been such great success, right?

Yeah I guess that’s part of it, the forwards have been coming in deeper and done a better job at covering their points. The defense has done a better job at keeping the shots to the outside and not as many juicy rebounds are being stuffed into the back of the net with ease. These are true to some extent, but the bulk of the credit must be given to Frederik Andersen for his dominant play as of late. He’s been the Leafs best player over the last twelve games and you can bet he’s feeling confident each and every game.

The Leafs need to continue to score Andersen some goals, the offense has cooled down a bit as of late and you have to expect that to happen as teams look deeper and deeper into film. They can look at tendencies for break outs, goaltending weakness and other flaws the video coaches pick out. Things tighten up as the season goes on and the Leafs will have to be creative and whom better than Mike Babcock to be tweaking the lines and matching up on a nightly basis.

Morgan Rielly:

The Leafs first round pick back in 2012 (5th overall) was slated as the best player in the draft by Brian Burke.

That’s a big statement. (I think?)

Rielly has been good, great at times, but has always kept me looking for more. This season may be the best I’ve seen Rielly play overall, and on top of that his production is up. Just 29 games into the season Morgan already has 19 points, in comparison last season Rielly had 27 points in 76 games. He’s well ahead of that pace, and his plus minus isn’t in the negative for the first time in his career as a Maple Leafs player. Not exactly surprisingly as the Leafs were a dumpster fire for the first three years of his career and only last year were respectable.

Rielly may not hit the 50 point mark, but he’s on pace to and that’s huge for the Leafs offense as they have been looking for Morgan’s production to go up with his defensive play; a win on both accounts.

At only 23 years of age the Leafs top defenseman is starting to really get in the swing of things and seems more mature and more responsible on the ice. The Babcock effect must be in motion. Some members of Leafs Nation think that the next Maple Leafs captain should be Morgan Rielly.

To each their own the old saying goes…he’s not my choice, but certainly not a bad choice.

The Leafs are preparing for a double header this weekend, Pittsburgh on Saturday and Edmonton on Sunday. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading, have a great day.
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