The Toronto Maple Leafs’ recent streak has lifted them out of the bottom third of NHL teams in The Athletic’s latest power rankings.
The December 5 edition of said rankings placed the Maple Leafs 18th, a significant jump from 25th the week before. A 4-1-0 road trip was enough to catapult the Maple Leafs to a big jump.
In particular, The Athletic noted:
“The Leafs were in a state of disarray before Joseph Woll returned to action, let down by Anthony Stolarz, struggling to carry a bad defensive team. Toronto has cleaned things up of late, and Woll has thrived behind that, once again looking like the team’s goalie of the future. Going into Thursday’s game against Carolina, Woll had a sterling .921 save percentage and has saved 0.73 goals above expected per game, up from 0.4 last year.”
But things can’t always be perfect for the Maple Leafs. The piece noted the loss of Woll in the game against the Carolina Hurricanes. As such, there’s uncertainty surrounding the club at this point. The good news is that Dennis Hildeby has emerged as a solid goaltending option thus far.
Maple Leafs Could Have Woll Back Soon
The Maple Leafs got some encouraging news regarding the potential return of Woll. The Athletic’s Chris Johnston quoted coach Craig Berube, stating:
The news is certainly welcoming as the Maple Leafs don’t really have anyone behind Hildeby at this point. Artur Akhtyamov backed Hildeby up on Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens.
Fortunately, Hildeby was fantastic in the 2-1 shootout loss against the Habs. The Maple Leafs will need Hildeby to continue playing well, as they look to continue climbing the standings. Another solid week could mean the Leafs might continue rising in the standings and power rankings.
The most important issue at this point will be to find more scoring. The Maple Leafs have done well to get scoring from their depth players, in particular, the third line. On Saturday night, it was fourth-line center Scott Laughton who tied the game for Toronto.
That scoring will be crucial as the team’s top scorers don’t always get the chance to light up the scoresheet.
Relatively Light Week Ahead for Toronto
The Maple Leafs have a relatively light week ahead. They’ll host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday at Scotiabank Arena. From there, the Leafs will be off until Thursday night against the San Jose Sharks. The couple of days in between games will be crucial in helping the entire team rest and recover ahead of a major showdown with the Edmonton Oilers next Saturday night.
Toronto will end a five-game homestand on December 16 before heading on the road for three games. The Leafs will face a three-games-in-four-nights set with games in Washington, Nashville, and Dallas. That set will likely demand the Maple Leafs split starts. Hopefully, Woll will be back by then. That situation would allow Berube to spread out starts for Woll and Hildeby.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will play one last game on December 23 against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Scotiabank Arena. The league will then head into the Christmas hiatus.
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