Toronto Maple Leafs: 5 Early Observations from the Randy Carlyle Era

It was far from the best game the Toronto Maple Leafs have played this season, but the 3-1 win on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens was as interesting as it was entertaining.

The battle of the Randy C's was won by Toronto's Randy, as in new head coach Randy Carlyle.

You could argue that every Leaf player had something to prove that night, whether it was to their new bench boss, their disappointed GM, to themselves or to their fans.

After all, it was a Hockey Night in Canada affair on a Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

A loss could potentially have been season-ending, not to mention humiliating.

The Leafs needed the win for a number of reasons and to their credit, they came out with one.

Was it because of the coaching change?

It's hard to say for sure, but for what it's worth, here are five things that seem to have changed for the team since Randy Carlyle took the helm.

Physicality

Games between the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs are always spirited affairs, but there seemed to be extra fire in the Leafs during Randy Carlyle's first game behind the Leaf bench.

Most of the Leaf players were finishing their checks, and I'm pretty sure Phil Kessel almost threw one as well.

Mike Komisarek beat down Chris Campoli with a bone crusher, while guys like Dion Phaneuf, Mike Brown, David Steckel and even Tyler Bozak were liberally throwing their weight around all game long.

A few Leaf players took beatings of their own (especially Mikhail Grabovski), but that's the price you must be willing to pay if you're to win.

Tim Connolly, a guy who's not known for being physical, got into a scrap with P.K. Subban at the final whistle. The fight wasn't nearly as long or as heated as Mike Brown's fight with Brad Staubitz, but it showed emotion and fire in Connolly that we weren't sure existed.

If the Leafs can capture that fire and bring it against divisional and non-divisional opponents alike, we'll be in for a fun ride for the remaining 17 games of the season.

Smarter Defensive Play

When a former Norris Trophy winner is brought in to coach your team, you know your defensemen are going to have to get their act together in a hurry or risk less ice time.

A normally bone-headed bunch of Leaf defensemen actually looked smart for the most part during the game against the Habs.

Jake Gardiner looked dangerous while Carl Gunnarsson was cool as a cucumber with the puck, making intelligent and safe plays to move the disk out of the defensive zone.

For once, the Leafs did not spend minutes on end skating in circles inside their own zone.

Instead, due to the improved puck moving and skating from the D, the speedy Toronto forwards were able to get their game going.

You don't want Phil Kessel standing around trying to win a puck battle along the boards. He's at his best when he's racing down the wing with the puck. Besides, have you ever seen Kessel win a puck battle?

Confidence

When your team goes 1-9-1, not a whole lot of positive things will be going through your mind.

One reason that the Leafs have been losing so much lately is because nobody in the locker room seemed to believe in themselves or even each other.

Look at Jonas Gustavsson and imagine if Ron Wilson was still with the Leafs on Saturday against Montreal.

The Monster committed a few monstrous errors early in the game, which fortunately didn't end up costing them, but the situation easily could've been worse.

Gustavsson blew a tire trying to handle a puck behind the net; he almost played the puck in the no-play zone and completely fumbled another that ended up in the crease.

If Ron Wilson was still head coach of the Leafs, that first period, in which the Canadiens had taken a 1-0 lead, would have been demoralizing.

Instead, Gustavsson bounced back with a few big-time saves and wasn't relied upon too heavily in the latter half of the game.

It was amazing to watch the confidence level of the Leafs skyrocket when winger Matt Frattin tied it up in the second period.

Aggressiveness

Confident players shoot more, skate faster and play harder.

Perhaps it's simply a matter of style, but one thing I like about Jonas Gustavsson that I can't remember seeing with James Reimer is that Gustavsson is willing to make aggressive poke checks when the need arises.

As you can see in the clip, the Monster reads the play well and dives out to make a high-risk, high-reward play that eventually does work out in his favour.

A goalie lacking in confidence would have quaked in his boots while the opposing skater barreled in for an excellent scoring chance.

It wasn't just the goalie who showed confidence, though.

Every player from top to bottom looked like they were feeling good about themselves and their teammates and it showed.

They were skating harder and hitting harder, all the while maintaining good position and an acceptable level of discipline

Role-Playing Game

Great teams are filled with players who are aware and accepting of their roles on the team and who are good at what they do.

Toronto doesn't really have a legitimate checking line, but almost everyone else was doing their job perfectly.

David Steckel was a beast on the draw while guys like Mike Brown and Mike Komisarek stepped up their physical play without being defensive liabilities.

The second line of Mikhail Grabovski, Clarke MacArthur and Matt Frattin took care of all the offense while the Leaf defensemen generally did a good job getting the puck out of their own zone.

The top line was held off the score sheet, but if the top two lines can get it together at the same time, opposing teams won't know who to focus their checking on.

The Montreal game was a fine example of what happens when players accept their roles and do what is expected of them.