If the Toronto Maple Leafs' success – despite the absence of Auston Matthews for their past four games – had to be ascribed to one individual, it would be Frederik Andersen.
The Maple Leafs goaltender's play ranged from excellent to spectacular in those games (with backup Curtis McElhinney doing likewise while giving Andersen a night off), continuing a pattern that goes back to last season, his first in the NHL as a clear No. 1 netminder. However, the individual credit would not have come without a collective effort from Andersen's teammates.
"We're still giving up shots, but we're giving up way less high-quality scoring chances, especially early," Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said on Friday. "That gives your goalie a chance to get in the game."
In the four consecutive games the Leafs won since Matthews was lost to an undisclosed injury on Nov. 7, they allowed just five goals. They also became the masters of riding out close games, as they have two overtime wins.
Matthews, by the way, has a good chance of playing on Saturday night in Montreal against the listless Canadiens. He put in a full practice on Friday with linemates Zach Hyman and William Nylander and said he feels "a lot better" than a few days ago. Officially, however, his participation is a game-time decision.
"We're winning games and that's the most important thing right now," Matthews said. "We're cleaning up a lot of things that were problems for us at the beginning of the year."
That was a reference to the defensive improvement, which is led by the top defence pair of Morgan Rielly, who is also an offensive force with 17 points in 20 games, and Ron Hainsey, who is seemingly on the ice for every second the Leafs are killing penalties. They face the opposition's top line most of the time and Hainsey's veteran savvy is allowing Rielly, 23, to develop into the star he was projected to be as an 18-year-old rookie.
Also playing a strong role is the team's depth at forward, which minimized the hole at centre when Matthews was lost. Centres Nazem Kadri and Tyler Bozak stepped forward in the past two weeks, as have Mitch Marner and Nylander, who capped a great game on Thursday by scoring the overtime winner in a 1-0 decision over the New Jersey Devils.
But it is the difference in Andersen's game that is most striking. Just a few weeks ago, he was fighting pucks, especially the high ones as the word seemingly was out to shoot for the top corners on him. The odd thing is the repetition of the pattern Andersen set last year, a poor October followed by a sizzling November.
This season, Andersen had a 6-5 won-lost record in October with an embarrassing .896 save-percentage and a goals-against average of 3.46. In six appearances in November, Andersen's numbers are 5-1, .931 and 2.29.
Confidence is the word that comes up most when Andersen and his teammates are asked about his improvement. On a technical level, Andersen said his biggest change came after the overtime win Nov. 6 over the Las Vegas Golden Knights, the last game Matthews played, when he became less reactive.
"After the Vegas game, I feel I'm more aggressive on the puck and making sure I don't hope to be hit," he said. "Instead of that, you go out and make it happen. Moving into the shot and tracking into it is the big key."
The other key is knowing you are still going to be the No. 1 man, even if a cold streak stretches on.
"When you feel it's not going your way, you want to fight your way out of it," Andersen said. "That's been a big difference for me. I get to play a lot. You don't want to sit there."
Lest anyone get the impression the October-November pattern is going to persist throughout Andersen's career, it must be noted there are some differences between 2016 and this year. A year ago, Andersen was new to being the top goaltender and he was fresh from signing a five-year contract for $5-million (U.S.) a year, which always results in self-inflicted pressure.
The Leafs played well in front of Andersen in October, 2016, but he couldn't stop much before finding his game in November. This season, after a quick start, the Leafs defensive game wobbled until both it and Andersen came around at the start of November, although he did not play as bad as he did the previous year.
The Montreal game starts a busy stretch for the Leafs with seven games in 12 nights over the rest of the month and only two of them are at home. Babcock plans at least one fun day before the run gets into full swing. He is going to Sunday's CFL Eastern Division final between his Roughriders and the Toronto Argonauts, which just happen to be owned by two of the Leafs' three owners, Larry Tanenbaum and BCE Inc.
"I'll be there with bells on. I'll have my jersey out," Babcock said. "I told Larry Tanenbaum, 'I know we own the other team, but the Green Riders have been my team for forever.'
"My daughter's coming in for the game. Hopefully it's not too cold."
While a fellow Saskatchewan native might look askance at Babcock's concern about cold weather, he is definitely in good standing with the Roughriders. The team sweater he mentioned has his own name on it, as the Riders sent it to him years ago.
Also on Friday, the Leafs signed forward Josh Leivo to a one-year contract extension for $925,000.