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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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The Maple Leafs held an 11 a.m. team meeting at Madison Square Garden ahead of tonight’s game against the New York Rangers.

Ask the Maple Leafs where they think the team’s power play has improved most in recent weeks and their immediate quibble is with how few opportunities there have been to even get those units on the ice.

The Leafs have managed only 93 power plays through 35 games this season, which is tied for second-fewest in the NHL.

“We don’t get a ton,” lamented defenceman Tyson Barrie, after the Leafs’ team meeting at Madison Square Garden on Friday, ahead of facing the New York Rangers. “It seems like we only get one a game, so you have to try to capitalize on them when you can. But we're working on things in practice and hoping we’re going to have a game or two where we get a couple looks at it.”

Only four of Toronto’s last 10 games have offered more than one opportunity on the man advantage, and the Leafs are 5-for-17 (29 per cent) over that stretch. That’s a notable improvement for the Leafs, who were hovering around 17 per cent on the power play before Sheldon Keefe took over as head coach on Nov. 21.

“I don't think [the refs] are missing a ton of calls or anything. I think it's just maybe a weird stretch of games or whatever,” Barrie said. “So it's just important to capitalize when you do get it. With our skill and our speed and the way we're trying to hold on to pucks in the o-zone hopefully we can start drawing some more [penalties].”

On the other side of the special team’s battle, the Leafs’ penalty kill has finally become an asset rather than a liability. Toronto’s kill was seventh-worst in the NHL on Nov. 21 (74.1 per cent), and is fifth-best in the NHL since then (85.2 per cent).

“I think confidence is a big part of it,” said defenceman Justin Holl of the turnaround. “Even early in the year when we were struggling a little bit, I think everyone felt pretty good about it still. We were like, ‘Okay we’re going to break out of this at some point.’ That being said, we haven't been perfect and it’s still an emphasis for us and obviously the special teams can be the deciders in games so it's going to be important for us to be sharp every night on the PK.”

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Barrie hasn’t had many coaches in his career support – and even enjoy seeing – defencemen involved down low and in front of the net offensively, but Keefe has shown him clips of exactly that – and asked to see more of it.

“He's given us a lot of freedom, and really encourages us to get involved in the offence and create movement in the o-zone,” Barrie said. “I think it's tough to play against when we're on the other side of it so it makes sense for us to get moving and try to confuse some other teams.”

Mitch Marner doesn’t need to think back far for an example of how the Leafs’ new active D has been benefiting the forward group in creating havoc around an opponent’s net.

“Last game [against Buffalo on Tuesday], I remember I made a pass down to [Morgan Rielly] behind the goal line. He came out, he passed to [Barrie] backdoor,” Marner recalled. “So I think just seeing that teams get confused on who to cover, who to watch, opens spots in the area and guys are doing a good job getting there. We're getting our opportunities where we haven't missed too much.”

Keefe said his philosophy on roaming defencemen stems from trying to maximize what this current crop of Leafs do well, and keeping everyone’s confidence as high as possible.

“We have those types of players that thrive in those areas,” Keefe said. “You want to put them in spots where they can succeed like that. And just as a team we think it’s important, just in terms of how the game is defended these days. You need to have additional options available and so that’s why we like to involve as many people as we can.”

In that way, the manner in which the Leafs’ offensive game has evolved makes it impossible for blueliners not to be more engaged than they were earlier in the season.

“We have more freedom, but I think in a lot of senses to it's not necessarily freedom; it's more that you have to be there to provide an option for the guys on the breakout or in the o-zone,” said Holl. “So it's more of a mandatory thing than freedom and it is fun that way and I think it's been helpful for us generating offence.”

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There does need to be a balance in the Leafs’ attack, though, especially when it comes to getting – and holding on to – leads.

After enduring long stretches early this season of giving up the first goal in games, Toronto has been on the board first through five consecutive outings, outscoring opponents 7-2 in those opening 20 minutes. The problem is how lazy the team’s details become in the second, which translates into tough third periods where the Leafs’ have been outscored 9-2 in those same past five games.

“I think we've done a great job at starting games and getting leads and having good first periods and we're still working on that,” Barrie said. “When we do get up, we have to try to find a way to lock it down and not let them have any life and come back in the game. But we're playing well lately, so we just have to try to keep building on that.”

“I think our starts have been a lot better than they previously were and I think we’re starting with the puck a lot of times,” added Marner. “And I think when we get it we’re not rushing plays and not trying to rush into the o-zone. I think we're making the right plays, trying to find the right opportunity to strike and we haven't missed when we've done it.”

Going back to that additional freedom to operate that Keefe doles out, Barrie said it’s important he and the team’s other defencemen find the right middle ground so as not to hinder, rather than help, what the Leafs are trying to accomplish when they’re ahead.

“You want to be responsible. As defencemen, you don't want to be late in the game when you're up a goal kind of diving in and creating a rush the other way,” he said. “But I think we have to continue to push the pace and when we do get in the o-zone, we have to stay active and maybe instead of just protecting the lead we can actually build on it.”

Ideally, at some point there won’t be much of a difference between how Toronto plays regardless of what the scoreboard says.

“When you're down a goal, everyone's kind of pushing. You'll see the D getting more active,” Barrie said. “But I think that the way that we're playing right now, our D should be active all the time and it's a responsibility on us as defenceman but also on the forwards to cover when we are jumping [in] and that's part of our system, so it's important as a team that we recognize that.”

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Keefe said that with the team coming off its fourth win in five games on Tuesday, he won’t be making any changes to the lineup for Friday’s tilt against the Rangers.

That means Dmytro Timashov will stay in on Toronto’s fourth line while Trevor Moore has to wait at least one more day before making his return. Moore missed 13 games with a shoulder injury suffered on Nov. 15, and was previously expected to get back on Tuesday. But the winger revealed late that afternoon he had taken a bump in practice on Monday and wasn’t feeling like himself. The Leafs held him out for precautionary reasons and Timashov had a strong game in his place, scoring his third goal of the season against Buffalo.

With the Leafs on a back-to-back, Keefe didn’t rule out the possibility Moore will be in for the Leafs at home on Saturday against Detroit.

"We're going to see how things go here tonight,” he said. “But obviously I'm excited to get Trevor back up and running here."

For now, Keefe’s main focus is on how to capitalize against Artemi Panarin and the Rangers. New York has lost two straight heading into Friday’s matchup, and they’re averaging the second-most shots against in the NHL at 35 per game, which could set the Leafs’ active offence up for a big night.

“We think there’s going to be opportunities there for us offensively,” said Keefe. “But at the same time, they’re doing a lot of great things offensively themselves, so we've got to do a great job defending and with how we take care of the puck and how we break out of our zone is going to be important so we don't spend much time in our own end. That's a big factor we think going into this game and we'll be challenged in that way.”

Maple Leafs projected lineup vs. New York:

Hyman-Tavares-Marner|
Kapanen-Matthews-Nylander
Engvall-Kerfoot-Mikheyev
Timashov-Gauthier-Spezza

Rielly-Barrie
Muzzin-Holl
Dermott-Ceci

Andersen starts
Hutchinson