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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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Expectations weren’t easily applied to the Toronto Maple Leafs when this season began.

Going from a last-place finish in April to icing six rookies on opening night didn’t make playoffs a popular projection in October. Yet Toronto has been a contender for months, steadily climbing to where they sit now ­­- one point off a postseason berth with 18 games to play, but also losers of their last five.

The Maple Leafs are a better than .500 team. They have a positive goal differential, by a single marker. Despite how it may have looked to some on the outside, there was no doubt internally that being a winning team was not only possible, it was the plan.

“Maybe we know we’ve exceeded expectations, but for this group the goal the whole season regardless was to earn a spot in the playoffs and compete once we got there,” said Auston Matthews after practice on Sunday. “Being where we are is definitely a motivating factor. We have a good group of core players and the sky is the limit for us.”

Matthews has been a central player in the Maple Leafs success, as has fellow rookie Mitch Marner. They sit first and second on the team in points (Matthews has 55, Marner has 50), with Matthews leading in goals (31) and Marner in assists (35). Toronto’s postseason aspirations will hinge in large part on their play, which comes with its own pressures.

Three games back from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for two weeks, Marner said on Sunday he’s feeling more comfortable on the ice. The 19-year-old hasn’t had many poor performances this season, but Friday in Anaheim was one of the worst for his line with James van Riemsdyk and Tyler Bozak. The trio combined for 16 shots on goal but finished a collective minus-12 against the Ducks.

On the season that group has had 104 scoring chances (second most by any regular line combination in the league) while allowing 99 against (most among regular combos).

Two defensive zone errors by Marner’s line – a turnover and him losing track of his man – contributed to a pair of goals for the Ducks. After the 5-2 loss Mike Babcock repeatedly stressed the importance of his team tightening up everywhere. Over this five-game skid, Toronto has given up 16 goals, compared to eight scored. This season they're allowing the seventh-most goals per game in the league at 2.89. 

“Costly plays, costly turnovers, they’re going to bite you in the butt,” Marner said. “It’s about learning from those mistakes, and making sure you’re being smarter with the puck, being smarter in your own zone. The take away from that [Anaheim] game is that it could have gone differently if you make sure you’re playing smarter and being defensive minded.”

While he sheltered his rookies out of the gate, Babcock has them in the open now. That has spurred Marner to become a keen observer of how others play in the defensive zone as he continues to refine his own game. Marner meets with Babcock periodically for one-on-one sessions, but learning on the fly has had its own advantages.

“[Babcock] puts a lot of trust in us, he believes in us in the d-zone and puts a lot of responsibility on that,” Marner said. “I think that’s what we all want and what we all need. He puts as much responsibility on us as he does for a guy who’s been playing for years, and it’s nice to feel that.”

Matthews’ and Marner’s early excellence set the bar high for their seasons, but the games get tougher at this time of year as checking tightens and the margin of error decreases.

“The biggest thing here now isn’t even the defensive side, it’s that there’s no room suddenly,” Babcock said. “At the start of the season you had some room. … Last game we gave up three goals off defensive mistakes for no reason. So we have to tune things up.”

Matthews knew starting his NHL career at centre would be tough, especially defensively. Skating with Zach Hyman and William Nylander, they have amassed the second-most scoring chances for (89) and against (63) on the team; with Connor Brown instead of Nylander, that line is at 53 chances for and 61 chances against.

Through extensive video review and extra work after practice to keep up with how the league is evolving, Matthews is morphing into Toronto’s best all-around forward.

“I wanted to play centre and I talked to the coaching staff about it early on," said Matthews, who is tied for first among Toronto forwards with a plus-minus rating of +4. “Obviously there was a big learning curve at the start of the season. I wouldn’t say it was going bad but it definitely wasn’t easy. You have to adjust into it. I definitely feel really comfortable now with 18 games left as far as the defensive zone goes.”

Babcock described the Maple Leafs as being “in a lull” after returning 0-2-1 from their California road trip. With 10 of their final regular season games in Toronto, the prospect of the franchise’s second playoff berth in 12 seasons starts with a simple hope that there’s no place like home.

“Just the feeling of how much we need these points and how desperate we’re going to be to get them, it’s a really exciting time,” Marner said. “It’s going to be great to play in our rink. People in Toronto haven’t seen a playoff game from us in a while, so I think our home games especially will be electric.”