Nowhere To Go But Up

As the Maple Leafs prepare to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight, both teams have been struggling recently.  The difference is Toronto has shown signs of breaking out of this losing streak, and Tampa has shown glimpses of greatness but still making many mistakes.

Keys to the Game:

1. So far this season, when Tampa Bay is awarded 5 or more power play opportunities, they have won the game except the Phoenix game on Oct 30 when the Lightning had one power play and still managed to win the game.  The Leafs can not afford to let Tampa / Stamkos take over the game with the man advantage.  Conclusion: Limit Tampa to under four power play man advantages.
2. In the Buffalo game, both Leaf goals were created on turnovers in the offensive zone.  Buffalo could not defend simply because when they did turnover the puck they are not in position to defend.  Kulemin, Grabovski and McArthur were effective on the fore check and created the turnovers by Buffalo.  Only Kulemin is a big body on the second line, however speed is what Grabovski and McArthur use to their advantage to create the turnovers. The first line with Versteeg, Kessel and Bozak needs to use their speed to pressure the Buffalo defenders and create turnovers like the second have successfully done.  Conclusion: Use speed on the fore-check to create turnovers in the offensive zone.
3. On the rush, teams know that the Maple Leafs do not play the dump and chase and have lined up high on the blue line pressure the puck carrier and stifle the offensive rush.  On the flip side, the dump and chase is not suited well to the first two lines since they are not big enough to challenge for the puck physically.  The Leafs need to employ another type of offensive rush that does lend itself to be easily read by defenders.  I would suggest the first man on the rush make their way to the center line or blue line if possible and look for the trailing forward or defender to take the puck into the zone.  By using the late man on the rush, you have more options for entry into the zone and it keeps the other team from simply parking themselves on the blue line waiting for the puck.  On the flip side, by pausing and looking for the late man on the rush, the other team will have to stop also leaving them flat footed and susceptible to the rushing late man.  The other team will realize that the late man is going to skate by and will be forced to take a penalty or miss the check entirely.  Either way, using the late man on the rush keeps the other team guessing and can create more offensive opportunities.  Conclusion:  Have a different look to the rush by using the late man to create more offensive opportunities.

A Recap from the Previous Game.