The Toronto Maple Leafs completed their first week on the schedule. They’ve come out with two wins, one loss, and plenty of time on the penalty kill. Across the first three games of the regular season, the Maple Leafs have thrown their penaltykillers over the boards on at least four different occasions.
Penalty Kill Have Been Kept Busy
Their opening two games of the season were against the Montreal Canadiens and the New Jersey Devils. In those two road games, the Leafs committed five penalties. Simon Benoit leads the team in penalty minutes with eight in three games. He committed four penalties in the last two games. However, to give him the benefit of the doubt, the two calls that went against him in the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins were weak. So far this season, the Leafs are guilty of 14 minor penalties. That adds up to 28 penalty minutes in total. Last season, they weren’t that far off in comparison, taking 12 minors. Although, five were committed by former Leaf, Tyler Bertuzzi.
Toronto’s head coach Craig Berube has been asked after every game it seems about the discipline of the team and the amount of penalties they’re taking. Unsurprisingly, he agreed and said that they need to do a better job of staying out of the box. Even though minor penalties are only two minutes each, the effect it has on the team is a little more than that. Each trip to the penalty box kills the offensive flow of a team. And the Maple Leafs are very much a team that takes pride in their offensive rhythm.
However, there could be a common denominator as to why the Leafs are taking all these penalties. Since the addition of Berube, it’s been clear that the Leafs were going to play a different way. Now, they play tough, fast, aggressive, and where finishing checks is a must. This style of play could partly be the reason for all these penalties being called against Toronto. It should also be known that the Leafs have been penalized more than their opponent in every game so far this season.
Leafs Stars Adding to Their Resume
Throughout the preseason, Berube tested out many different combinations, including penalty-killing units. Some of those experiments didn’t remain. Although, some of them did and are making a difference. For example, Toronto’s prestigious duo of Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner both grace the same penalty-killing line. For the past two seasons or so, Marner has been a regular penalty killer for Toronto. Oftentimes, he’d be on the unit used first with David Kampf taking the draws.
Now, there is a bit of a different look. Specifically in the Penguins game, the Leafs started each man advantage with Matthews and Marner on the ice. Before this season, Matthews has never really been a penalty killer. However, making the change to include him when short-handed makes a lot of sense. Like Marner, Matthews has been a Selke Trophy finalist, just last season in fact. This is also a great way to keep the two of them in the game when the Leafs get into constant penalty trouble, as they have been lately. Therefore, it seems like a no-brainer to put the dynamic duo together. Now, there isn’t a moment when they aren’t with each other on the ice.
Even though there’s the risk of a star player getting injured, other teams do this too. For example, the Carolina Hurricanes have Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis kill penalties. Or, a more popular duo, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins. Since it’s been successful in other teams in the league, why not for the Leafs?
Main Photo Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
