The Maple Leafs Can Score. Now Comes the Hard Part
One thing we find interesting about the Toronto Maple Leafs' first five games is how much they have already told us about this team without really answering the biggest question. Can they be a consistently good hockey team? The Maple Leafs have a 2-2-1 record after five games. They've scored 14 goals and allowed 15. Those numbers suggest an ordinary start, but the way they got there is anything but ordinary.
Toronto came back from three goals down to beat Nashville 5-4 in overtime. Two nights later, the Maple Leafs built a 3-0 lead against Vegas in less than nine minutes. They looked dangerous, confident and capable of making things happen. Then Vegas came back to win in a shootout. So what are we supposed to make of all this?
Scoring goals isn't the whole story.
It's tempting to look at Toronto's offensive outbursts and conclude that the team has found something special. There is certainly reason for optimism. Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares can still make things happen, while young players such as Gavin McKenna and Easton Cowan are giving the lineup some interesting possibilities.
But scoring in bunches doesn't necessarily mean a team has figured out how to win. The harder part is sustaining the play that creates those opportunities. It means making good decisions with the puck, managing shifts when momentum changes, and understanding that a two- or three-goal lead doesn't give anybody permission to relax.
The Vegas game was a useful reminder. Toronto scored three times early, but the Golden Knights responded with three goals of their own. The Maple Leafs couldn't find another goal in regulation or overtime, and Vegas eventually won the shootout.
That's not a reason to panic after five games, but it's something worth watching.
Related: The Maple Leafs Might Not Be Better, But They’re More Fun
The Maple Leafs’ next step is finding consistency.
We sometimes talk about consistency as though it's a mysterious quality a team either has or doesn't have. In reality, it's usually built from smaller things: winning a few more battles, making the safer play when necessary, getting a timely save, and not letting one bad shift become three. Those habits help a team survive when its offence isn't clicking.
Toronto has shown that it can generate excitement. It has players who can change a game in a hurry, and the comeback against Nashville demonstrated that the team doesn't necessarily fold when things go wrong. Now the Maple Leafs need to show they can put together 60 minutes of dependable hockey more often.
Five games don't tell us whether this group will become a contender or spend the season searching for answers. It's much too early for either conclusion. But we have seen enough to identify the challenge.
The Maple Leafs don't necessarily need to score more goals. They need to make the good stretches last longer and the bad ones shorter. That's a much harder job than scoring three goals in nine minutes. It's also the job that will tell us what kind of team Toronto really is.