Kristen Shilton TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter Follow|Archive

The Toronto Maple Leafs bounced back from a tough overtime loss against the Islanders to edge the Dallas Stars 3-1 at home on Tuesday. Toronto gave up its fewest goals in its last five games, playing a steady 60 minutes and benefiting from terrific goaltending. They move to 24-17-10 on the season, and tie the Ottawa Senators for second place in the Atlantic Division.



Takeaways

Do your job: Toronto came into Tuesday’s game motivated for two reasons: 1. They were trounced by the Stars 6-3 just a week ago; and 2. They were eager to get back on track defensively after giving up 22 goals over their previous four games. There was major progress on the blue line – Toronto competed better, played harder on the puck down low and were clearing rebounds in front of the net. They also kept the Stars’ high-octane offensive threats to the outside, giving up fewer quality scoring chances from the slot areas. As a whole, the Maple Leafs still turned the puck over too frequently, especially in the neutral zone, posting 17 giveaways to Dallas’ four. Still, the blue liners were able to tighten up in their own zone while contribute offensively, accounting for four of Toronto’s points. And Toronto’s forwards returned the favour with sharp defensive play of their own. "[We weren’t] getting too ahead of ourselves, [weren’t] cheating for offence, just making sure we were under the puck, staying in good position,” said Auston Matthews. “They have a lot of firepower up front so we wanted to limit that and I think we did tonight for the most part."

Back-up plan: The biggest difference for the Maple Leafs defensively may have been the steady netminding they got from Curtis McElhinney. The backup stopped 39 of 40 shots and turned in the best goaltending performance Toronto has gotten since McElhinney’s last start in Philadelphia before the all-star break. As the game wore on, Toronto played more and more confidently in front of him, and every player looked sharper than they had been in a week. When he relieved Frederik Andersen in the first period of last Tuesday’s game against Dallas, he ultimately took the loss, and said after the game he was motivated for a little revenge. “It was a huge game for us, and he stepped in and played lights out again,” Tyler Bozak said of McElhinney. “He’s a guy we’re really confident in. He makes the big saves when we need them and we know that’s going to be crucial for us this season.” McElhinney has amassed a .954 save percentage in his three starts and Mike Babcock said the challenge is now on Andersen – who has struggled of late – to match McEhinney with his own play.

Constant Gardiner: Since Morgan Rielly has been battling a high-ankle sprain (and its residual effects), Jake Gardiner has found a spotlight trained more frequently on him than before – and in many ways it’s deserved. He scored his seventh goal in the first period, matching his goal total from last season in only 52 games and set up Matthews’ second-period goal with a great point shot for the rookie to tip past Antti Niemi. Gardiner is ninth on the team in points and leads all defencemen with 23. He has made obvious strides in his defensive game and has become more reliable under Babcock’s regime, but like the rest of the team, he needed a bounce-back effort after a string of poor performances. “He’s an elite puck mover and skater,” Babcock said of Gardiner. “Sometimes he gets a little haywire, you have to get him back in the barn once in a while, but he’s a real talented guy who moves the puck, doesn’t get in much trouble and has a lot of confidence.” It’s that confidence that Gardiner exudes that seems to be driving him to new heights offensively this season – he is three goals from his career high, scored back in 2013-14 – but Toronto needs his focus to be on defensive positioning as well.

Faceoff for the win: The faceoff dot has been a source of some frustration for Toronto – they are fourth-last in the league in defensive zone faceoff wins (46.5 per cent) and only slightly better overall (49.4). On Tuesday, they made their draws count, setting up two of their three goals with clean faceoff wins in the offensive zone followed by good puck movement. Toronto won 52 per cent of the draws overall, with Ben Smith, touted by Babcock as one of the club’s best faceoff guys, posting a team-low 40 per cent. It was Smith who lost a key defensive zone draw on the penalty kill that set up Tyler Seguin’s lone goal for Dallas to bring the Stars within one in the third period. Like their defence, Toronto’s success in the faceoff area hasn’t been consistent enough yet. “It’s an area of concern,” Babcock said of d-zone draws. “It’s a priority for us – if you’re going to win games down the stretch when you have a one-goal lead, you can’t lose every faceoff. That’s been a problem for us because we never have the puck.”

Next game: The Maple Leafs continue their four-game homestand against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.