Toronto Maple Leafs: 4 key factors to beating Boston Bruins in Round 1
Avoid penalty trouble
The Leafs penalty kill was abysmal in the first round against Boston and was the worst in the NHL during the playoffs at 66.7 per cent.
In four game on the road, Toronto was shorthanded 18 times and allowed SEVEN goals! That gave them a 61.1 kill rate which is borderline embarrassing. They saw more success in the three games at home going down shorthanded three times and they didn’t allow a single goal.
More from Tip of the Tower
- Cam Phillips making his mark on Toronto Argonauts offence
- Toronto Argonauts: 4 storylines ahead of matchup against Redblacks
- Federico Bernardeschi ready for new challenge with Toronto FC
- Toronto Argonauts overcome Roughriders in entertaining Touchdown Atlantic
- Buffalo Bills: Von Miller drawing inspiration from Bruce Smith
Adding Mitch Marner to the penalty kill has made for some interesting scenarios where he uses his skill to wreck havoc despite being asked to kill penalties, what a concept! This is something the Bruins do having Marchand and Bergeron play together shorthanded so why shouldn’t the Leafs try the same.
The Bruins like to get someone open in the slot so that has to be an area of importance for the Leafs to defend. Another part of the Bruins power play Toronto should try to be aggressive with is the point because the Boston likes to generate chances from there and get to loose pucks from rebounds or bounces off the boards.
Hopefully, having a better awareness of this will help give the Leafs an advantage when the puck drops Thursday night.
dark. Next. Is Mike Babcock on the hot seat?
What are you thoughts on the first round series against the Bruins? What do the Leafs need to do or avoid doing if they want a chance against Boston? Let us know in the comments below.