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3 Things Maple Leafs Need to Fix Before Playoffs Start

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The month of March could be a little better for the Toronto Maple Leafs. They have a 6-4-1 record and remain second in the Atlantic Division and fifth overall in the league.


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Even though they continue to maintain their presence at the top of the standings, their play overall hasn’t quite been where it should it be. They’ve had strong performances and others have been disastrous where their mistakes have come back to hurt them. While there should be no panic for a team high up in the standings, dealing with injuries and having new faces in the lineup, they have to start buckling down and prepare for the postseason. Here are three things they need to do ahead of the playoffs.

Mitigate Turnovers

If there’s one thing that was an issue early on that the Maple Leafs have improved on in the second half was lowering the number of turnovers and creating unforced errors. They have the seventh best goals against per game of 2.73, but at times, they have put themselves in a bad spot with careless plays that have led to goals against.

Sheldon Keefe Toronto Maple Leafs
Sheldon Keefe, Head Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Here’s a summary of the Maple Leafs’ giveaways in the three games before their matchup against the Florida Panthers.

Game Giveaways Result
vs. CAR 15 5-2 TOR
vs. OTT 15 5-4 TOR
vs. NYI 19 7-2 NYI

In three games, the Maple Leafs gave the puck away 49 times, while winning two of those three games. You could say that they were resilient and found a way to win against the Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators, but they were out played as they had a Corsi For percentage and scoring chances for percentage under 40% in those games. It could’ve been different results had it not been for the fact that the Maple Leafs took advantage of their scoring chances against the Hurricanes and Matt Murray giving them a chance with a 48-save performance plus his play in the shootout against the Senators. 

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Yes, they won, but what if there were more goals against that could’ve affected the result of the game. In the game against the Senators, they were up 4-2 and couldn’t hold the lead and mistakes crept back in, giving the Senators life. They’re at a crucial point in the season where they’re battling for home ice and the points matter. 

The game against the Islanders was a disaster and should serve as wake-up call for this team as that kind…

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