Popular NHL analyst gives the Leafs credit for how well they're playing says they're going all the way this year
With how well the Leafs have done in the regular season, consistently improving over the last number of years, it's sometimes easy to forget that this young Leafs core really only had 6 years to grow together before this season and are only now entering their prime.
Everything seems to be clicking for the Leafs right now, with Mitch Marner playing out of his mind, going on one of the longest point streaks in multiple decades (22 games), William Nylander having a career year and leading the team in goals, John Tavares showing that age is just a number and Auston Matthews putting personal accolades aside to focus on playing the right way and helping his team win. Add to that the fact that the defense is playing extremely well under less-than-ideal circumstances and the fact that the Leafs have not one, but TWO goaltenders playing at a very high level right now and you have the recipe for a very dangerous team.
Last night, following the Leafs' thrilling come-from-behind victory over the always tough Calgary Flames, NHL on TNT's Paul Bissonnette took to Twitter to show the Leafs some love and double down on his comments from earlier in the season, suggesting that 2022-23 will be the Leafs' year. "Biz Nasty" believes that not only is this team different, but they're going to win the Cup.
It's not uncommon for good teams to struggle to find their form in the playoffs for a few consecutive seasons before finally breaking through the glass ceiling. We saw it in Washington, we saw it in St. Louis, we saw it in Tampa and, last year, we saw it in Colorado.
I know what the narrative surrounding this Leafs group is. They can't get it done. They're soft. They're head cases... all of that. But at the end of the day, they're a really good hockey club and success is not linear. There are peaks and there are valleys. This team is showing us a resiliency this season that they have never shown before. A willingness to dig deep to overcome significant adversity. They're playing for each other. They're playing 60-minutes worth of hockey, night in and night out. They're winning games from behind. They're protecting leads and winning games that they should win and not choking away leads. As Biz said in his tweet last night, this team just feels different.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 11 | 112 ANSWERS Popular NHL analyst gives the Leafs credit for how well they're playing says they're going all the way this year Do you agree with Bissonnette that this Leafs team feels different? | ||
| Yes | 100 | 89.3 % |
| No | 12 | 10.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
