Positive strides and the Leafs rookie race November 21, 2016, 9:40 AM ET [190 Comments] Lucas Neilson

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It was a valiant effort on Saturday night where Carey Price won Montreal the game coming up with a number of big saves on some high end chances by the Maple Leafs. Toronto pushed hard in the third period but Price shut the door and the first place Canadiens scooped up the two points.



The Leafs kept up with Montreal; as a matter of fact they actually pushed the play of the game and for the second game in a row gave up less than thirty shots on goal. This is a big plus as its most definitely one of the areas of concern for the coaching staff. Plain and simple, the boys were giving up too many shots on goal, keeping the shots down to a minimum is only going to benefit the team as they tighten up the defense going forward.



Things got feisty on Saturday night with a couple dirty hits and scrums. The Montreal team has certainly toughened up with the additions of Weber and Shaw. Unfortunately for James van Riemsdyk he got the worst of it in the dying seconds of the third period when he got hit from behind by Alexei Emelin. It’s only going to fire up over the years, the rivalry will return between Montreal and Toronto, the flame will forever exist between the two clubs.



Andersen continues to be the steady horse for the Maple Leafs and it sure is nice feeling confident about a goalie having the ability to stop that first shot of the game. Too many occasions in the past with the first shot going in and completely deflating the team and the crowd in the early goings of a game. Frederik Andersen has certainly come around from what we saw in the first couple games of the season. Andersen has only let in five goals in the last three games. He’s really giving the defensemen the confidence to play their game and not worry about trying to do anything extra to help out their goaltender. It’s going to be beneficial for not only the goaltender but for the defense to get used to each other’s habits with and without the puck.



Frederik will have to be on his game this week as the Leafs are in New Jersey tomorrow followed by a back to back game at home on Wednesday versus the Washington Capitals. Perhaps we will get to see Enroth in net tomorrow? It will be interesting to see how Babcock plays his goaltenders in this scenario as Toronto has continued to struggle on the road and been dominant at home.



The Leafs are now tied with Philadelphia for eleventh place in the Eastern Conference, but most importantly are above .500 and playing a much more complete game as of late. I’m quite impressed how Babcock has this young roster player night after night. There have only been a few games where things got out of hand and even then the Buds didn’t give up until the horn went at the end of the third.



There is a lot of promise with the emergence of so many quality rookies at once. Easily the best crop of young players I’ve ever seen come up the pipeline and it’s been thirty plus years. Makes me wonder if this is the best influx of talent the Maple Leafs have ever had…



What do you think?



Could there be a new Leafs rookie scoring record?

Could this be the core we see for years to come?

Could the Leafs make the playoffs this year?



There are a number of questions that could be asked about this bunch of rookies and Leafs roster. We certainly haven’t seen any of the rookies reach their ceiling in potential and there are certainly others to follow who are itching for the call-up from the Toronto Marlies.



The Maple Leafs are progressing nicely in the early goings of this rebuild, the pain this season has been very minimal, especially when comparing to last season. I’d imagine Toronto hits a speed bump or two along the way, but in the overall I’ve been excited to watch all of the games this season.



The Leafs rookie race is on and Mitch Marner leads the pack with 16 points in 18 games. It’s no surprise to me that he has the lead now and that he will have it by seasons end. The way Marner has been playing puts him in the jaw dropping category of excellence and I don’t see him slowing down one bit.



Nylander and Matthews both had an excellent start to the season but have slowed down a bit as of late but are still doing very well posting 14 and 13 points. The two have a combined 113 shots on goal and have been a bit part of the reason why the Leafs have been successful out of the gates this season. Matthews has been getting a number of great chances and you can bet it won’t be long before he starts to heat up and some bounces go his way. Matthews leads the Leafs with 67 shots on goal and I have confidence he snaps his scoring drought this week.



Thanks for reading, have a great week!