Toronto Maple Leafs’ Defence Stands Above All

The Leafs, fresh off their 5-4 overtime win Tuesday against the St. Louis Blues, sit second in the NHL at 2.43 goals against/game, just 86 goals allowed over their 35 games. They’ve given up the sixth-fewest shots in the league.

It’s tough in these parts to remember a Leafs’ team that committed to team defence — and that has been with defencemen Morgan Rielly, Jake Muzzin, TJ Brodie and Jordie Benn, and now Rasmus Sandin, out with injuries. Rielly is expected back any day now. Brodie and Benn are back in there already. Muzzin is out long-term. Sandin took part in practice yesterday and is expected back soon as well.

Talk about an embarrassment of riches, if Rielly and Sandin come back against Arizona. Whom do you sit? And does the team stay committed to defence once it starts getting bodies on defence back into the lineup?

All you have to do for an example of how they’ve been playing is watch forward Auston Matthews stretch out and dive to cut off Vladimir Tarasenko in tight in overtime Tuesday, leading to William Nylander stripping Tarasenko of the puck at the Leafs' blueline and breaking away to score the winning goal.

You don’t need to run someone through the boards or drop the gloves to show toughness. That, and Mitch Marner’s point streak, which ended at 23 games, has been the top team storylines this season.

The Leafs sit second to the Boston Bruins in the Atlantic Division, and third in the Eastern Conference. They’ve won three in a row, going 7-2-1 in their last 10. The Carolina Hurricanes, Washington Capitals, New York Rangers, and Bruins have been hotter.

Up front, several players are on streaks. Nylander has scored in four consecutive games. Matthews has points in four consecutive games – two goals and three assists. Marner has an assist in three consecutive games. 

According to BetRivers, Toronto is -240, Arizona +188. The majority of the money is on Toronto, but there hasn’t been a significant amount of early action on the game, a spokesperson added. 

No surprise there. The Coyotes are second last in the Western Conference’s Central Division, at 12-16-5. Arizona has won two in a row, though. The Leafs are 9-5-3 on the road this season.

After starting Ilya Samsonov two games straight, look for the Leafs to turn back to Matt Murray in goal.