Oct 10, 2017
Strong start builds Leafs’ confidence
Toronto’s deep offensive attack has papered over penalty troubles and carried the team to a perfect start, Kristen Shilton writes.
TORONTO – Over the first three games of their season, the Maple Leafs have earned the right to feel confident.
Toronto owns a perfect record, even if their play hasn’t been pristine. They’ve blown a four-goal lead, faced multi-goal deficits and hurt themselves by taking too many penalties. But the Leafs have also scored more goals than any team in the league (19) and are tied for most points (six).
It’s a fine line between self-assured and cocky, especially with a core as young as Toronto’s, but the Leafs plan to stay on the right side of it.
“I think it’s good to have a little bit of swagger and confidence as a group,” said winger Matt Martin after practice on Tuesday. “As long as you’re working hard, the belief and confidence should be there. The first period [against Chicago] was kind of a wake-up call; it was more like a real game. They took it to us in the first period, but we were able to bounce back. That gives us something to build off of.”
Toronto fell into its first deficit of the season against the Blackhawks Monday night, but recovered from a pair of two-goal holes to eventually win in overtime. Chicago was the team most closely keeping pace with Toronto in goal scoring (each side had a league-high 15 markers heading into the game) while also boasting the highest goal-differential in the league (plus-13).
Defeating the Blackhawks was a point of pride for the Leafs, and another sign of how far they’ve come since last season. It wasn’t until Nov. 1 of last year that Toronto earned their third win, and no Leafs team has started 3-0 or better since 2010-11.
“At every level I’ve played at, there is an adjustment period, and it takes a year or so to get used to the level and become more confident and patient,” said sophomore Zach Hyman. “You just settle down a little more and that confidence lets you make more plays and those little things end up making a difference.”
Hyman’s line with Auston Matthews and William Nylander has had a dazzling start to the season, including a dominating performance against Patrick Kane, Artem Anisimov and Ryan Hartman Monday night. Their possession stats, all in excess of 76 per cent, were only part of what made them great. The chemistry developed over 88 games last season has been prevalent during this season’s first week. The trio has already combined for 10 points.
“[Matthews’ line] did a good job [Monday]. They had the puck, they played well without it so they got it back fast,” said head coach Mike Babcock. “They all can get up and down the rink in a hurry, so it makes it hard on the opposition.”
The Matthews line has only been one piece of the offensive puzzle for the Leafs, who have scoring throughout the lineup. Over three games, Eric Fehr is the only Leafs skater without a point, and the depth of talent has given Babcock freedom to rotate players in
and out.
Fehr played Monday, but Dominic Moore will replace him Wednesday against the New Jersey Devils at centre on the fourth line. Rookies Andreas Borgman and Calle Rosen will again skate as the Leafs’ third defence pairing while Connor Carrick sits with an upper-body injury.
“You have to build that chemistry with each other on a team,” Martin said. “You see it with guys like Matthews and Nylander and Hyman and how well they see each other on the ice. When guys know where each other are because they’ve been together for a year, they don’t have to think too much about where everyone is and just use each other.”
By all accounts, last season’s playoff push and hanging tough with the Washington Capitals for six games in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs was a game-changer for the Leafs.
They went into the off-season knowing they would return to higher expectations – internally and externally – than ever before. What could have been overwhelming has, so far, been invigorating.
“I think the more confident you are, the better you are,” said Tyler Bozak. “When you’re confident is when you’re playing your best. If you’re confident as a group, you play the best as a group, so we’re going to try to be as confident as we can throughout the whole season.”