Toronto Maple Leafs: 3 changes team needs to make in Game 2

2. Maple Leafs shooters need to get into the dirty areas more

Both the goals the Canadiens scored came off the rush and mistakes made by the defence. Toronto needs to understand that in order to get the puck past Carey Price, they can’t make it easy on him with their shot selection.

If you look at the heatmap from Game 1, it’s clear the Leafs weren’t able to generate that much offence in front of the net. They weren’t totally shut down from getting scoring opportunities especially on the power play which is where they were able to get more looks in high danger areas.

Montreal isn’t going to make life easy for Toronto considering they feel confident in playing a low-scoring affair. The Leafs will need to force the Canadiens to not be as comfortable defending in their own zone.

Considering how the Leafs scored their only goal of the game, it should be a reminder that the team has to be willing to adjust and not just take what’s being offered to them. They also can’t get caught flat-footed as they did only both Canadiens goals and were certainly surprised by Josh Anderson’s desire to just skate right through them.