TORONTO – They have tried voodoo and witchcraft and making an appeal to the travel gods.
Bussing down the day before, the day of, even flying on occasion.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have switched team hotels in Buffalo – and will cozy into another new one during this mini-trip – but still haven’t found any success at a building that has seen more names (three) than Toronto victories (two) since February 2009.
“I haven’t been here long enough to know much about it,” said Leafs coach Mike Babcock. “I just know that Buffalo and us are teams that perceive ourselves to be in transition and getting better. We’re going to be battling with them for a lot of years to come.
“It’s important that we play well against them.”
There is, of course, no logical explanation for a run of two wins in the last 19 visits to an arena now known as KeyBank Center. Both organizations have changed multiple GMs and coaches while completely overhauling their rosters during that period.
It is coincidence, or bad luck, and it wasn’t of any concern whatsoever for the Leafs prior to making the trip down the QEW for Thursday’s game in Buffalo.
That attitude sheds light on one of the more interesting traits starting to emerge from the NHL’s youngest team: They’re process-driven. It’s helped keep spirits high during a 10-game stretch to start the season where the results haven’t been quite as good as their play.
Auston Matthews, who had a four-goal debut but has now gone four games without a point, seems to grasp the concept well. He mentions “puck possession” along with shots and scoring chances as things he looks at when tracking progress.
That’s why he came out of Tuesday’s game against Edmonton feeling so good. Linemate William Nylander created several good looks for Matthews, and he finished with a team-high nine shot attempts at Cam Talbot.
“You’re always going to run into games like this where you create and create, and they just don’t go in,” said Matthews. “The goalie obviously played a great game as well. It’s all positive when you’re creating that many chances – some of them are bound to go in.”
Nylander also appears to see the forest beyond the trees.
“You feel it when you’re playing well,” he said. “When you’re creating a lot of scoring chances and keeping them off our goalie, and not letting them create too much.”
This illustrates two important points: A team that features 10 players with fewer than 100 games of NHL experience may be better equipped to handle the swings of emotion than you’d think. And secondly, the Leafs believe they are bound to see a reversal of luck if they keep performing the way they have been.
Toronto is top-10 in Corsi after generating 52.01 per cent of even-strength shot attempts, according to Corsica.hockey, and sits 26th in PDO at 97.68.
While a portion of that is due to their struggles in net – the Leafs currently boast a .887 save percentage – it also suggests that better days lie ahead. The numbers certainly describe a team better than its 3-4-3 record so far.
“We’re a team that can compete with anybody,” said Matthews. “We really believe that. We have enough speed and skill to hang with any team in the league. I think we’ve shown that so far.”
After the visit to Buffalo, the Leafs play six of their next eight games at home. It is a time where they can put some points in the bank and remain within shouting distance of the playoff race – a priority for an organization wanting its players exposed to a second-half schedule that means something.
In that environment, it will be tougher to see past results that don’t go your way – even if bad luck is at play.
For now there seems to be a level-headed approach to the first few weeks of the season. Learning to close out games is part of the process the Leafs are going through, but the need to stick with what’s working is also be accentuated.
“A lot of the stuff that costs us is in the D-zone,” said Matthews. “Rome wasn’t built in one day, as Babs loves to say. I think we’ve got a lot of good pieces here. We’re a young team so all of us are kind of growing up together – (we) continue to develop, continue to get better, learn every day.
“In a couple years, I think we’re definitely going to be a dangerous team.”
In the meantime, they’ll settle for a win in Buffalo.
