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Earlier this season in a rough game against the Bruins, Hyman took a run at Charlie McAvoy and earned his first NHL suspension.

What did coach Mike Babcock think of the usually methodical Hyman getting into a fight?

“As long as he doesn’t hurt his hand, I don’t care,” he said. “It’s important to stand up for one another, but I also want him healthy.”

THERE’S HOPE

The Leafs hope talking out their power-play issues will be just as important as the work they do on the ice and in the video room. Their 0-for-4 night in New York — producing 23 power-play shots of their 56 in total — increased their most recent slump to 1-for-18 as they now sit among the bottom half teams in conversion.

Their fortunes can go two ways from here, but the improved flow on Sunday encouraged most members of the special teams that the drought will soon end. They have four power-play goals since Christmas.

“That’s the best we’ve been, probably the most looks we’ve had all year,” centre John Tavares said of Sunday’s efforts. “It’s good to be in sync. We got a lot of pucks on net, we were retrieving pucks, we were sharp. We just need the end result.”

The best news might have been drawing four minors from the sometimes over-matched Rangers, for only the third time since New Year’s Day. The Leafs aren’t going to get any better without live game situations and if they didn’t play harder to force the whistles to come out, it would be hard to study what exactly is wrong.

“For sure, there were times we weren’t carrying the play as much as we want,” Tavares said. “Sometimes we probably didn’t get the calls, but that’s the ebbs and flow of the season and you only worry about what you can control.”