Auston Matthews continues to deal with a lingering upper-body injury. Would it be best for the team and player to rest in February during the 4 Nations Face-Off? The Toronto Maple Leafs are playing more of a team game this season under new head coach Craig Berube. Toronto finished with nearly double the amount of blocked shots than the Detroit Red Wings in their 5-2 win. The Maple Leafs had 17 in the game, including four from Simon Benoit (one which appeared to hurt a fair bit [https://x.com/marnylander/status/1872819906623733871]). The club now has 593 blocks on the season, the fourth-most in the NHL this year, behind the Seattle Kraken (608), San Jose Sharks (627), and Philadelphia Flyers (638). Toronto is also ranked eighth in the league for hits with 882, averaging 24.36 per game. "I think that's just our nature," said Nick Robertson, who had a goal and two hits in 10:02 of ice time. "I think, obviously, Chief is on us to be team players and maybe it's just buying into a new system early on, but guys have stepped up, guys have been more physical, guys are blocking shots and doing more of a team game. That's how we're successful." It wasn't just Benoit who was putting his body on the line on Friday against Detroit. Morgan Rielly blocked a shot with his knee in front of Joseph Woll and went to the dressing room (before returning) and Jake McCabe took an errant stick to the face causing him to lose teeth. Several other Maple Leafs, including William Nylander, registered more than two blocked shots in the game for Toronto. The players got a nice three-day break but were welcomed back with a few bruises. "Any time our defensemen or forwards can get a block like that, it's huge," said Joseph Woll, who stopped 23 of 25 shots for his 10th win of the season. "Those are some of the small things that give a team a lot of momentum, so it was great to see." After getting three days off for the holiday break, Toronto enters another difficult part of its schedule. They play the Washington Capitals on Saturday and the New York Islanders on Tuesday and Thursday before a back-to-back next weekend against the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers. That's six games in the next 10 days, which Toronto also had before the break. It might've been nice to get the rest, however, the NHL schedule doesn't get any easier from here. "It's good to have a clean slate and spend time with family and get your mind off of hockey. When you play a lot of games, it's tough to get away," Woll said on Friday. "I think [the break] was big for our guys, just getting a few days to relax." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjExNjM5NDEwNTc4NDM0MDI0/googlenews.svg] Stay updated with the most interesting Maple Leafs stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwytvfCA?ceid=CA:en&oc=3] to never miss a story.
