Toronto Maple Leafs Turning Season Around

After a terrible start to begin the season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have finally started to do something productive.

Late November and early December have been very good for the Maple Leafs and have allowed them to start climbing away from the bottom of the standings.

So far, they have not been able to climb above 14th in the Eastern Conference. However, if they keep playing like they have been, they'll be out of there pretty quickly, because in the last 10 games they are 7-2-1.

In fact, they are only five points away from a playoff spot and are one win away from tying the 11th and 12th place teams.

The difference has come in the offense. The thing that people don't give Toronto credit for is that they have had a strong offense for the entire season. They have been in the top 10 for power play and have been averaging a little bit under three goals per game.

They have been losing games because they have no defense, and Jonas Gustavsson being out at the beginning of the year didn't help them either.

Most of the strong offensive play has come during the power play, which has surprisingly slid in the last 10 games. I checked last month, and they actually had the sixth best power play in the league.

The important thing is that Toronto is playing well in even-strength situations. They are starting to show some offensive power when the other team doesn't have a disadvantage in numbers.

However, they have to get better at defense because they won't be able to score three to four goals every game. Until they start keeping the puck out of the net, they will lose a lot of games and probably miss the playoffs.

Originally posted at Tips for Hockey.