The Toronto Maple Leafs have had an excellent start to the season. A big reason for that has been Toronto’s ability to play team defence. There have been a lot of changes in their style of play ever since the coaching change. Craig Berube has come in and made his mark on this team immediately. The obvious changes to this team are their physicality and the way they play offence. However, another aspect of Toronto’s game that deserves its flowers is their defence. Not only is it individual performances, it’s how they play team defence as a system.
On Monday, the Maple Leafs played their first game broadcasted by Amazon Prime. They played a very complete game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 5-2 win. It was a highly anticipated divisional matchup and was also the only game on the schedule in the NHL.
Defence Has Been the Way for Toronto
Throughout these early stages of the season, Toronto have put some great hockey on display. There has been a pattern in each of their games, whether they have won or lost. That pattern is that Toronto has only allowed two or fewer goals in all of their games thus far. It should be noted that the Leafs did lose to the New York Rangers on Saturday 4-1. However, while the scoreboard said four, the Rangers scored two empty-netters in that game. Therefore, this pattern still stands in situations when there is a goaltender between the pipes. Ultimately, this impressive pattern isn’t achievable without the consistency of Toronto’s defensive structure.
The Leafs’ ability to keep the puck out of the net has been on display in all situations. At 5-on-5, Toronto has conceded only six goals in six games this season. That’s good enough for third-best in the league in that department. Additionally, the Maple Leafs are fifth in the league in goals against average with 2.17. Defensive success like this is not a familiar feeling with the Leafs. Oftentimes, they would find themselves trying to outscore their opponents and at times give themselves the task of coming back from big leads. However, that is not the case anymore under Berube. Starting from the drop of the puck in the season opener, Toronto has played a playoff brand of hockey. That will come in handy for them come playoff time, where they haven’t had much success.
New Additions Playing a Part
This past summer, general manager Brad Treliving made a few free-agent signings. Thus far, all of his bring-ins have been vital to Toronto’s success in this young season. Chris Tanev, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Anthony Stolarz have all been the notable adds from Treliving back in July. In their win over Tampa, they all played a part in the tidy victory. For starters, Stolarz has produced yet another outstanding performance and continues to be reliable. Against the Lightning, he made half a dozen great stops, including a save-of-the-year candidate on Jake Guentzel. In total, he stopped 32 out of 34 shots earning the first star of the game. Stolarz ended the night with a .941 save percentage, improving to .930% on the season.
Stolarz pulls it from the goal line!
What a night for him! pic.twitter.com/2tZqFVNTpO
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) October 22, 2024
Although it was an excellent showing, the Leafs goaltender didn’t earn this win on his own. The guys in front of him were a big help, especially from a team standpoint. However, there is one player who deserves a lot of credit in this game, and that’s Tanev. Without him, Toronto’s defence doesn’t look as smooth as it does. Most of the time it’s tough to find Tanev in a game, but that’s because he does all the right things and stays out of trouble. However, in this game, he was a little easier to find, and the puck would agree. In addition to what was the standard, solid performance from Tanev, he provided a little extra to his game on Monday. He finished the game with seven blocks, and while he didn’t score any points, he was awarded third star of the game. That’s how much of an impact Chris Tanev has on this hockey club.
Main Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
