Maple Leafs Power Play Setting the League Ablaze with Ridiculous Efficiency
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
After some early season concerns, the Maple Leafs power play has been scorching hot during the month of March and a big reason for that is their unorthodox setup.
The Toronto Maple Leafs dismantled the Philadelphia Flyers last night by a score of 7-2 but more importantly they had everything running like clockwork. The core players led the way, depth players chipped in with goals, and their power play remained white hot.
The Leafs power play has been a talking point for quite some time and after a not-so-great start to the season with the extra skater, they have found their way and are clicking at a historic rate.
During last night's telecast on TSN, they showed that Toronto's power play had been clicking at a 40.7% success rate in March, which equated to 11 for 27. They went on to add one more goal with the man advantage later in the game to get to 12/28.
A big reason for that level of success is due to their unorthodox set-up of 5 forwards on the top unit, which has been tearing the cover off the puck.
The unit that features Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares, and Matthew Knies have scored 8 goals in under 19 minutes of ice-time together, giving them an ungodly 8.5 goals per 20 that has them ranked well above any other quintet in the league.
Even dating back to February 1st, the Maple Leafs power play is 20 for their last 52 and they've gone without a power play tally in just 6 games out of a possible 20. It should come as no surprise that they've also posted a 13-6-1 record in that span.
The quintet have been nothing short of unbelievable in recent weeks and on the season Nylander and Tavares lead the way with 11 power play goals, Matthews has generated 9 power play markers, Marner has 6, and Knies has 4. They lead the team from 1-5 and being on the same unit just makes them that much more dangerous.
The Leafs still have 3 games remaining in the month of March against San Jose, Los Angeles, and Anaheim, all on the road. The Sharks and Ducks are ranked 26th and 29th league-wide on the penalty kill, respectively, so expect more of the same to close out the month.
| POLL | ||
MARS 26 | 3115 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Power Play Setting the League Ablaze with Ridiculous Efficiency Should the Maple Leafs go back to a traditional power play set up or keep their unorthodox 5-forward first unit? | ||
| Keep the 5 forwards together, they're on fire | 1999 | 64.2 % |
| Eventually go back to a traditional set up | 1116 | 35.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
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