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Toronto Maple Leafs: The secondary scoring is starting to click

By Jasmine Yen

ST. PAUL, MN - DECEMBER 14: Toronto Maple Leafs Right Wing Josh Leivo (32) warms up before a NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs on December 14, 2017 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN.The Wild defeated the Maple Leafs 2-0.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ST. PAUL, MN - DECEMBER 14: Toronto Maple Leafs Right Wing Josh Leivo (32) warms up before a NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs on December 14, 2017 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN.The Wild defeated the Maple Leafs 2-0.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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While Auston Matthews and John Tavares have been lighting up the league, the secondary scoring of the Toronto Maple Leafs have been put on the back burner.

In five regular-season games, Auston Matthews scored nine times and John Tavares has scored six times. The Toronto Maple Leafs scored 25 goals, so the Matthews-Tavares duo is responsible for 60 percent of them.

As the Leafs entered their sixth game of the season against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals, everyone expected more of the same.

The Leafs ended up winning 4-2, but the scoresheet looked foreign. Kasperi Kapanen scored his second goal of the season, Par Lindholm scored his first NHL goal, and Josh Leivo scored for the first time since November 24, 2017.

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Even though the two centers are great, dominant players, they need secondary scoring to help them out when they can’t get the job done. Entering the season, the biggest strength of the Leafs was their scoring depth up and down all four lines. Through the first five games, it wasn’t the case, but against the Capitals, the supporting cast came alive.

Before last night, the Leafs were 7/14 on the power play, with all the goals coming from their first PP unit (Matthews, Tavares, Mitch Marner, Nazem Kadri, Morgan Rielly). Last night, that unit couldn’t get the job done so Mike Babcock put his second unit out (Patrick Marleau, Connor Brown, Leivo, Andreas Johnsson, Jake Gardiner) and they scored the tie-breaking goal.

That unit never had much power play time and when they did, they were not clicking. Last night’s PP goal added a new dimension with the Leafs’ scoring and made the team that much more dangerous.

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Toronto has one of the best two centers in the NHL, but when their supporting players start getting in on the scoring action, that is when this team is the most deadly.

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