Score more.
For the Maple Leafs, it should be the goal now that they’re into the second half of the 2024-25 regular season.
Under the watch of coach Craig Berube, the Leafs have pulled up their skate laces on the defensive side of the game and if present trends continue, they’re going to be among the stingiest teams in the Eastern Conference at five-on-five once the season is done.
Overall, the Leafs were 11th in goals against in the NHL before games on Sunday, a jump of 10 spots from when they finished 21st in 2023-24.
Executing on offence and putting the puck in the net has been another story. And no, we’re not forgetting that the Leafs sit in first place in the Atlantic Division with 56 points, three up on the Florida Panthers, who have a game in hand. When the structure breaks down, more often than not they’ve been getting stellar goaltending from Joseph Woll and Anthony Stolarz.
A year ago, the Leafs finished first in the NHL in goals for at five-on-five with 200. With 89 in 44 games, they’re on pace to finish with 166. There’s a better balance between defence and offence to be discovered in the coming weeks and months and that falls on both the coaching staff and the players.
The Leafs are capable of more and obviously that goes for the power play as well. When a roster boasts Mitch Marner, captain Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares, the power play shouldn’t be mired in 19th at 20.6%, a hefty drop from seventh and 24% last year.
Sure, the Leafs continue to lack a true shot from the point when they have a man advantage. There’s a lot more to it than that. There’s no innovation when the Leafs are on the power play and as Berube mentioned after the 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, the lack of momentum that could have been generated with a man advantage hurt the team in the end. Any time you want to make an impact, assistant coach Marc Savard, have at it.
In losing 6-3 in Carolina on Thursday, followed by the embarrassing loss against Vancouver — during which Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen had to make just 20 saves — the Leafs have stumbled to start the second half.
After the loss to the Canucks, Berube and the players made available talked about the Leafs’ lack of connectivity in the game and because of that they were unable to make much of an offensive push.
Berube had new line combinations to start the third period and that changed nothing.
We wouldn’t say anything comes easy in the NHL, but there are true challenges in the next couple of games as the Leafs play host to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday before Sheldon Keefe makes his return on Thursday with the New Jersey Devils.
The Leafs have to play with more pace and urgency than they’ve had in their past couple of outings.
There’s the talent to result in more production. It’s on the coaches and the players together to find a higher level of consistency.
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BACK TO PRACTICE
When the Leafs hit the ice on Monday at the Ford Performance Centre after a day off on Sunday, they’ll practise for the first time since Jan. 1.
With their two home games this week, the Leafs are expected to practise on at least one other day, whether it’s Wednesday or Friday.
You can bet the prep time will be welcomed by Berube, but the lack thereof in the first couple of weeks of 2025 wasn’t being used as a crutch by defenceman Chris Tanev.
Is the Leafs’ overall sharpness dulled when there are such large gaps between practices? They’ve had only two since Christmas.
“Every team right now is playing a ton of games because of the schedule, so I don’t think that’s an excuse,” Tanev said late on Saturday night. “We need to just be better and work for each other. Mistakes happen, but after a mistake, that’s when we need to help each other and it’s not usually the first mistake that maybe the other team capitalizes on.”
LOOSE LEAFS
Tavares’ nine-game home point streak, during which he had 13 points (eight goals and five assists), ended on Saturday … Easton Cowan has recorded an assist in each of his two games with the London Knights since returning from Canada’s disappointing performance at the world junior championship in Ottawa. The Leafs prospect now has a 58-game point streak in the Ontario Hockey League going back to November 2023. Oddly, Cowan hasn’t had a big offensive outburst in any game, recording two points in eight games and one point in 14 … Including a 3-0 loss against Ottawa on Nov. 12, this is the first season the Leafs have been shut out twice at home since 2018-19, when they were blanked three times in Toronto … The loss to the Canucks marked the second time in 2024-25 that the Leafs didn’t have any penalty minutes. The other was on Dec. 21 in a 6-3 loss against the New York Islanders.