The Maple Leafs have been a middle-of-the-pack team this year and the head coach says some of that is on his staff to have his team ready.
The Maple Leafs have been a middle-of-the-pack team this year and the head coach says some of that is on his staff to have his team ready.
The Toronto Maple Leafs held their first fully-attended practice following the NHL All-Star break on Tuesday.
Following his team's 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders on Monday, the focus was squarely on how Toronto fell in the game.
It wasn't that they didn't play well enough to deserve the victory, but their top players didn't produce. When they weren't scoring, mistakes led to goals allowed, including former Leaf Pierre Engvall's game-winner with just over two minutes to go in regulation time.
That led to Sheldon Keefe defending the talent of his team. But he also demanded more from them as well as himself.
"We've got a good team here. We've got good players. As a coaching staff, we need to do a better job with them and work with them, and help them and recognize our own role in getting the team to play to its potential," the head coach said. "I would say about 50 percent of the games, we've been really good. That's not enough. That's not enough in the NHL."
That 50 percent assessment is fairly accurate. Although Toronto has a .604 points percentage, they have just 16 regulation wins this season. And far more is expected of them.
Although Auston Matthews leads the NHL with 40 goals and William Nylander lead the team in points with 62, secondary scoring has been a real concern for the Maple Leafs. Matthew Knies and Tyler Bertuzzi occupy left-wing roles in the top six and have combined for just 14 goals this season. With just 37 points in 48 games, John Tavares is below his usual point-per-game pace, although he has goals in each of his last two games. Max Domi has just four goals this season.
"We are not scoring to the same level that we have here in the last while," Keefe said. "A night like last night, there's some moments in the game that really stand out and really hurt us where if we score a little bit more, you are able to address those in meetings and in practice, but you kind of press on."
Scoring has been hard to come by and it doesn't get any easier with the Dallas Stars in town on Wednesday. They sport a 30-13-6 record and are in second place in the Central Division.
The Leafs have been able to do just enough to pull out of nose dives. A three-game winning streak before the NHL All-Star break was enough for the club to feel good about where they were at, until the Islanders brought them back to reality.
"It is a matter of consistency for us," said Keefe. "It is not about what we are capable of. It is what we can do consistently. Coming off the break now and with the final stretch in the distance here, you got to embrace what's ahead and it's a good time for our guys to really pull together.
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