The Toronto Maple Leafs began the second half of their season with an impactful, come-from-behind 4-3 win at home against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.
The victory was one more piece of evidence that Mike Babcock made the right decision 20 months ago in departing the Detroit Red Wings after 10 seasons and choosing Toronto over the Buffalo Sabres as his next coaching destination.
The Maple Leafs, Red Wings and Sabres are all pretty close in terms of talent on paper, but Babcock has the Maple Leafs ahead of schedule and ahead of Buffalo and Detroit in the standings.
There was no way he could have predicted back on May 20, 2015 that the Maple Leafs would land Auston Matthews, who scored again on Tuesday evening in his first game against his friend Jack Eichel of the Sabres, and Mitch Marner in the draft and acquire goalie Frederik Andersen and others in separate moves.
Considering they finished last overall a year ago, the fact that the Leafs are in a position to make the playoffs in Babcock's second season is impressive to even the most skeptical observers.
Late-season ghosts
Babcock was correct to caution Maple Leafs supporters during his Tuesday morning presser to "chill" on the growing possibility of a playoff position.
But despite Toronto's recent 9-1-1 run, Maple Leafs fans don't need to be reminded of what can happen in the last three months of the regular season. There was Brian Burke's 18-wheeler going off the cliff with a 1-9-1 slump late in 2011-12.
In 2013-14, the Maple Leafs were in a good spot in late January but then finished 11-16-3 to wipe out the good vibrations. The next season there was the horrible 8-27-5 finish. Even last year, in Babcock's first year, Toronto went 13-23-4 in its final 40 outings.
There still are many questions that the Maple Leafs will have to deal with in the next three months, beginning with how will they survive without defenceman Morgan Rielly if he's out long-term after leaving with a right leg injury in the first period on Tuesday.
Toronto hasn't suffered any major injuries this season. The Maple Leafs only have lost 58 man games to injuries, compared to the Sabres at 217 and the Red Wings at 186.
The Maple Leafs also are one of the youngest teams with an average age of 25.7. They have eight rookies in Matthews, Marner, William Nylander, Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, Nikita Zaitsev, Nikita Soshnikov and Frederik Gauthier. Although these kids have been impressive and have exhibited no signs they feel the heat, how will they handle the stress down the stretch?
The veterans, too, have to respond. Players like James van Riemsdyk, Nazem Kadri, Tyler Bozak, Jake Gardiner, Rielly and Leo Komarov have their own Maple Leafs ghosts of the past to deal with.
Long-term plan
Maybe fourth-liner Matt Martin, who joined the veteran leadership group this season from the New York Islanders, will make a difference. He has been there for players like Matthews and Marner to help them along in their freshman seasons.
There also is the question of how the 27-year-old Andersen will perform down the stretch. He's never made more than 53 starts in his four NHL seasons. He's already at 35. Will he wear down in the second half, even if newcomer Curtis McElhinney plays a significant backup role?
Finally, the Maple Leafs can't control how well the Ottawa Senators perform in the next three months. The Tampa Bay Lightning also should be able to make a second-half surge and maybe even the inconsistent Florida Panthers will be heard from.
But whether or not the Maple Leafs make the playoffs for only the second time since 2004, this youthful group will gain from the experience of being in this position at this point of the season.
The 53-year-old Babcock is a coach who will continue to put Matthews out for key, late-game faceoffs and his other young players in pressure situations to gain experience.
Although a trip to the playoffs would be nice for Matthews and Co., it's still about developing so that five or six or seven years from now the Maple Leafs are contending rather than pretending.
Babcock's Leafs way ahead of schedule
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