Let's get physical

In times of trouble, which this is for the Toronto Maple Leafs, teams often look to their captain for leadership.

It's not that Dion Phaneuf, Toronto's 26-year-old captain, is capable of picking the team up by its bootstraps and magically changing the path the team is on all on his own. He has never been mistaken for Bobby Orr.

But Phaneuf knows as well as anybody that if he tries to set a positive example, it could influence his teammates into raising the level of their play. In Saturday night's bitter 3-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, Phaneuf was visibly more intense, registering two assists and leading the Maple Leafs with four hits. Phaneuf has always been a good open ice body-checker, but the Leafs have been notoriously soft in the defensive zone for much of this season and it was clear that he was trying to do something about that.

"That's the way I have to play to be effective," Phaneuf said. "I want to be a guy who is hard to play against. I have that physical edge and in a game like that I definitely tried to come out and bring the physicality. It's a big hockey game in a building that has lots of energy so I tried to be as physical as I could."

On the official score sheet the Maple Leafs were out-hit 26-20 by the Jets, but Phaneuf certainly did his part, not only with body checks, but becoming embroiled physically with Winnipeg players a couple of times after the whistle sounded to stop play.

The Maple Leafs started the year beating teams with their speed and skill. However, injuries have crippled the club and it seems like they are still trying to play the same high-tempo game, which can lead to scoring chances for the opposition, without as much skill in their lineup. Perhaps simplifying their game a bit and being more physical is the way to go.

In any case, it certainly comes down to more than just one or two or three players leading the way. It has to be all 18 skaters and whoever is between the pipes.

"I think Dion's responsibility is to just be Dion," said goaltender James Reimer. "I mean, obviously you look to your leadership to guide you whether things are going good or bad, but it doesn't fall just on Dion's shoulders. It falls on our leadership group, per say. I think they have been doing a good job. They don't do anything different when things are going bad; they just keep on going and doing what makes them successful and we follow their lead. You try to mimic their work ethic and intensity and you look in the mirror."

By now the entire hockey world seems to know one of the Leafs biggest concerns is their inability to kill off penalties. They rank last in the NHL, they ranked 28th in the PK department last season, which wasn't much better, and they are coming off a game in which they allowed two power play goals and another just as the penalty concluded.

Naturally the Leafs spent a lot of Monday's practice working on the penalty-kill, but the defencemen and goaltenders also had a pow-wow to make sure everybody was on the same page moving forward.

The Maple Leafs will play nine of their next 10 games at home beginning with a match-up with the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday night. They will host the Jets Thursday and then the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

"January is a big month for us, as it is for every team in the league," Phaneuf said. "The standings are so tight. We've let the ground we had made slip a little bit and now it's going to be a tight race to the very end. Usually the playoff drive is the last month; now it's a lot different than that. You look at the difference between sixth and 10th place and it's not very much. You're going to have to play every game down the stretch like they are playoff games because they're going to make the difference of whether you make it or not."

The Maple Leafs said at the start of the year they wanted the Air Canada Centre to be a difficult building for opposing teams to play in, but the opposite has been true. Toronto ranks 24th at home with an 8-5-4 record and has been out-scored 64-54 by the visitors.

"To be completely honest with you I don't even know our record at home to compare it to what we have done on the road," Phaneuf said. "I know by you guys talking about it we don't have as good a record at home, but we are coming home to win games. We've been on the road and we're not happy about the road trip that we had. Now we're going to move forward and focus on Tampa Bay."

"It doesn't matter where you are playing; whether it's at home or on the road, you have to win hockey games. That's why there's 41 at home and 41 on the road. You cannot be a good home team and not a very good road team and you can't be a good road team and not a very good home team. You've got to find a happy medium and be able to win at home and on the road. We're not looking three weeks down the road to the 10th game of the month. We're focused on our next game which is against Tampa and they are coming in here playing well."

Coach Ron Wilson said he has no special instructions for his captain in terms of little things Phaneuf might do to help change the course this team is on. In fact, Wilson said nothing should change.

"Just keep working hard and playing hard," Wilson said. "You don't want one guy taking it all on his shoulders and becoming a lone ranger out there. Collectively we have to play better; it's as simple as that. It's not up to one guy. What Dion has to do is make sure he maintains his enthusiasm and that he doesn't clam up or just start to worry about yourself. You have to stay as enthusiastic as possible.

"For me, Dion has to get involved offensively early in the game and be as physical as possible," Wilson said. "It seems then he plays really well when he's doing that. It is important for him to establish that early in the first period if he can."

Veteran hockey columnist Mike Brophy will cover the Toronto Maple Leafs for sportsnet.ca for the 2011/12 season.