海角社区官网

Treliving, in his first season running the 海角社区官网hockey operation, can take some satisfaction in the fact that, after a bumpy start, the team hasn鈥檛 taken a step backward under his supervision. Even better, many of the player moves he made after taking over are starting to pay dividends.

It didn鈥檛 look that way for a while. Ryan Reaves was terrible, John Klingberg was a menace in his own zone, and not in a good way, Max Domi looked lost and Tyler Bertuzzi seemed to struggle to keep up with his new team. For a time, the team fell into a wild-card position.

Then came a demanding string of six games in 10 days during which the team has come together and played explosive, entertaining hockey. The Leafs picked up 10 of a possible 12 points and are now on a 111-point pace. They have the best offence in the Eastern Conference, and also lead the conference in hits, undermining the endless and tiresome narrative that they aren鈥檛 physical enough. The Leafs have demonstrated an ability to both blow teams out and fight back from deficits.

Last week, Morgan Reilly scored with seven seconds left in the third period on Long Island to salvage a point. The next night, the offence exploded for seven goals against the defensively sturdy New York Rangers. Two days after that, the Leafs fell behind 5-0 to the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets, then stormed back with five goals in the third period to earn another point despite losing in overtime.

Then came Saturday night against Pittsburgh, arguably the most meaningful game of the season so far. With former GM Kyle 鈥淵ou won鈥檛 see me pop up elsewhere鈥� Dubas in town, the Leafs ran wild and delivered their most convincing victory of the season. The final score was 7-0, but might have easily gone into double digits. The Leafs hit four posts and didn鈥檛 bother protesting a disallowed third-period goal that should have counted.

The dreadful performance of the visitors was a big factor. Despite the flu-ridden Leafs being without Matthews and T.J. Brodie, and employing third-string goalie Martin Jones, the Penguins were never in the game.

Dubas was hailed as a 鈥済enius鈥� by some Pittsburgh media when he was hired, but right now the results are worse under his leadership than they were last season when Ron Hextall was GM. His risky decision to add 33-year-old defenceman Erik Karlsson an a $10-million (U.S.) cap hit to a team with four key players over the age of 36 is starting to look questionable, at best. Pittsburgh allowed 13 odd-man breaks on Saturday and generally looked like a team that didn鈥檛 have much interest in playing for coach Mike Sullivan. Sullivan has been on the job for eight years, a long time for an NHL coach. He could end up, like Craig Berube in St. Louis, being the fall guy for a flawed roster.

Treliving, meanwhile, was able to sit back Saturday night and watch Domi and Bertuzzi each enjoy three-point nights. Jones, another Treliving signing, pitched a shutout and may be in the process of jumping ahead of Ilya Samsonov on the team鈥檚 goalie depth chart. Noah Gregor, brought in as a free agent in the summer, scored again and has given the team an injection of speed on the fourth line. On the back end, Simon Benoit and William Lagesson, both low-profile free-agent acquisitions, played 17:11 and 15:30, respectively.

Interestingly, only eight players were dressed for the Leafs on Saturday that were also dressed when the team was eliminated by Florida last spring. Treliving didn鈥檛 touch the core group of Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Morgan Reilly despite hysterical demands that he should, and he has apparently done a commendable job replacing departed players with more than adequate replacements despite limited cap flexibility.

That鈥檚 partly why Saturday night was such a meaningful game. Dubas, who would still be running the Leafs if he hadn鈥檛 decided to call a media conference that president Brendan Shanahan asked him not to call, was undoubtedly hoping for a triumphant return, something like that enjoyed by Punch Imlach back in November, 1970. Just months after being fired by the Leafs, Imlach returned to Maple Leaf Gardens as GM and head coach of the expansion Buffalo Sabres and thumped his former team, 7-2.

Instead, Saturday鈥檚 result and the solid performance of the players brought in by Treliving undercut any suggestion the Leafs made a mistake letting Dubas go. Moreover, Sheldon Keefe is now free of any belief that he鈥檚 only coaching in the NHL because his buddy Dubas is in charge. Keefe showed a keen understanding of his team鈥檚 needs by giving them the day off on Friday despite a roller-coaster performance against Columbus the night before. His players stormed out of the gate on Saturday like they appreciated that decision.

Any lingering doubts about the departure of Dubas are history. The way in which the players acquired by Treliving are fitting in suggests the team鈥檚 management is in good hands. The trade deadline, and the matter of re-signing Nylander, are the next significant challenges.

It鈥檚 still too early to reach firm conclusions about the 16-6-6 Leafs, or any NHL club. But, as of Sunday, 海角社区官网had the fifth-best winning percentage in the 32-team league, the best goal-scorer in hockey leading a prolific attack, and a scrappy collection of players that clearly knows how to fight back.