After a very impressive 4-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night, it appears the Toronto Maple Leafs‘ bandwagon has filled up again.
In fact, it may be overflowing with fan support.
The difference in Toronto’s play in Tuesday night’s 5-2 loss in Pittsburgh compared to their victory in the back half of the home-and-home series versus the Pens was Jekyll and Hyde-like.
The Leafs showed little fight in Pittsburgh and they were taken to the woodshed by the talented Penguins as a result.
However, Toronto played like a completely different team in their return engagement at Scotiabank Arena.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe’s team paid attention to the finer details — something they have not done with any regularity this season — were much more engaged shift after shift, responsible in their own end and then used their speed in transition, and got wonderful goaltending from Frederik Anderson.
From the opening faceoff to the final horn, the Maple Leafs looked like a complete hockey team that is a no doubt Stanley Cup playoff participant.
But while the Maple Leafs have a little more spring in their step today, the hockey world is left wondering whether they have suddenly flipped a switch and will play this well for the remainder of the year, or if the players will just fall back into the bad habits that we’ve witnessed throughout the 2019-2020 campaign.
The team’s next opportunity to answer that question comes Saturday night when Toronto hosts the Carolina Hurricanes, another team who is in a dogfight for a playoff spot.
If the Leafs can duplicate Thursday’s performance more often than not down the stretch, they will undoubtedly be competing for hockey’s ultimate prize.
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