Auston Matthews skates in the warm-up prior to playing against the Vegas Golden Knights during an NHL game at the Air Canada Centre on Nov. 6, 2017 in Toronto.Claus Andersen/Getty Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs are sitting pretty, but it was an ugly climb.
After sweeping the Boston Bruins in their weekend series to make it four wins in a row, the Leafs began a four-day break Sunday. If Auston Matthews really is "day-to-day" with his undisclosed injury, then Thursday's game against the New Jersey Devils represents nine days of recovery. That should be enough to get him back in the lineup unless his injury actually goes beyond his announced status.
In the meantime, the Leafs can boast a 3-0 record in the absence of Matthews, who was proving with each NHL game he is the most important player on the team. But they have accomplished the feat in some unconventional ways.
Rather than cover for Matthews with the offensive game and go-go hockey they are known for, the Leafs managed to grind out those wins by making sudden improvements in the areas of the game that previously were dragging them down. Now they are looking like defensive masters, having allowed just five goals in their past three games while scoring 11, slogging out games that produce the right results despite lacking in artistry.
While the power play, wobbly all season, went into cardiac arrest in the absence of Matthews, with a 2-for-12 stretch in three games, the penalty killers tightened their game considerably. The unit went 10-for-12 in the same period, capping the performance by killing off all four Bruins power plays on Saturday night, including a five-on-three advantage that iced the 4-1 win.
"Our power play hasn't been too great, but we're getting better and our [penalty killing] has been unbelievable for us," Leafs forward Mitch Marner said.
"I think over all our game is getting better every day, and that's a thing we're trying to look forward to."
Marner himself is a big part of that improvement as he finally started producing points last week, shaking off the traditional NHL sophomore slump.
He started with two important assists last Friday night in the opening game of the Bruins series and then scored his first goal since opening night on Oct. 4 to get the Leafs offence moving. He also had an assist.
Part of Marner's revival was rejoining his original linemates, centre Tyler Bozak and left winger James van Riemsdyk after their lack of production resulted in a breakup. Van Riemsdyk has four goals and one assist in his past five games.
"I think we're starting to get some of that mojo and swagger back on our line and I think we're getting some bounces now, too, which doesn't hurt," van Riemsdyk said. "Again, we want to continue playing this way and go from there."
But the real stars for now are the ones who don't usually show up on the offensive side of the game sheet. When the Leafs had to kill a 67-second five-on-three Bruins power play to preserve a one-goal lead in the third period Saturday, Leo Komarov and the defence pair of Ron Hainsey and Nikita Zaitsev played brilliantly, with backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney providing solid support.
"You know, I don't really want to be killing too many penalties, but I honestly don't know if a shot got through," McElhinney said of the efforts of Komarov, Hainsey and Zaitsev.
The goaltenders can take a share of the credit as well, especially Frederik Andersen. His play was drawing increasing criticism until last week when he repeated his pattern from last season and made a big improvement in November after a slow start. Andersen has yet to match his brilliance from a year ago, but he is making big saves when they are needed.
The Leafs still tend to allow a lot of shots – more than 35 in each of their past three games – but head coach Mike Babcock doesn't mind as long as they are coming from a distance. It also helps the defensive game when the Leafs are playing with a lead, something that has also started recently.
"When you have the lead, it's a different kind of game," Babcock said. "You just can be efficient and I thought we did a good job [Saturday] of clogging 'er up inside most of the time and limiting their shots more from the outside."
Aside from monitoring Matthews's health, the most important item of business for the Leafs in the next couple of days is the status of forward Nikita Soshnikov. He is playing for the Leafs' farm team after spending 56 games with the big club last season. The terms of his contract allow the Russian winger to return to the Continental Hockey League (KHL) if he is not on the Leafs' roster by Tuesday.
Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello has not said what he plans to do with the 24-year-old. If Soshnikov stays with the Leafs, he will be a restricted free agent in July, 2018.