Despite winning four in row, Maple Leafs strive for greater consistency

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Enough chit-chat, it’s time for the Maple Leafs to get back to work. 

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Following a couple of practices at the Ford Performance Centre after they won both of their games in the Global Series in Stockholm, the Leafs will punch the clock in Chicago on Friday afternoon and in Pittsburgh on Saturday night for a quick trip on U.S. Thanksgiving weekend. 

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“We’re back now, we’re not going to talk about the time change or travel or anything like that,” defenceman Morgan Rielly said on Thursday. “We’re back here, we’re back playing our normal schedule.”

Having won four in a row, the Leafs are seeking to put together their first five-game winning streak since Nov. 23-30, 2022. You would think that should happen against a Blackhawks team that has lost five in a row and won just five of its first 17 games, but the Leafs aren’t in a position to assume anything is automatic. 

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The Leafs continue to strive to play consistent hockey for longer stretches. Just five times in 17 games have the Leafs lost in regulation, but just five times have the Leafs won in regulation. Only six National Hockey League teams have fewer victories in regulation this season.  

The Leafs are on pace for 24 wins in regulation; in 2022-23, they had 42, and the season before that, they had 45. 

As much as a coach is never satisfied, Sheldon Keefe is taking positives from some areas. 

“I do think our defensive process has been far better, which has given us a chance to win,” Keefe said. “Early in the season, a lot of times we were beating ourselves with some of the mistakes we were making. 

“I feel like that has improved dramatically and we’re in a good place there. We’re going to need that to continue.

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“But in terms of the overall game and carrying play, and having good segments of each period over the course of 60 minutes, I don’t think we’ve done that yet. We have had enough good moments to be in games and give ourselves a chance to win, but I don’t feel like we’ve had good segments of all three periods in a game. We recovered well, but the defensive play has improved significantly, which is why we have been getting the points we have.”

Neither of the Leafs’ two opponents in Sweden, the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild, have great power plays, but it was a step forward for Toronto in that the Leafs killed off all seven power plays (four for Detroit, three for Minnesota) in the two games. It’s the first time this season the Leafs went consecutive games without giving up a power-play goal.

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It’s crucial for the Leafs to find another gear. For a club that likes to think of itself as a Stanley Cup contender, sitting in the first wildcard spot at U.S. Thanksgiving isn’t where the Leafs want to be, behind the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division.

Tampa will be buoyed by the return of goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, and the Bruins have made everyone forget that Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci retired. After an up-and-down start, the Panthers have won seven of their past nine. And the Red Wings are just a point behind the Leafs. 

Unlike recent years, when the Leafs’ spot in the top three in the Atlantic was cemented early, that’s not the case now.

“There is always going to be room for improvement,” Rielly said. “You leave wanting more almost always, even when you win and play well.

“As a team and as individuals, you want to play your absolute best for the entirety of the game, but that is difficult. It’s always going to be a work in progress and always going to be something we are striving to do.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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