Not so simple: Mikhail Grabovski's spin move to beat the St. Louis Blues Thursday. The Leafs centre was one of the NHL's best scorers in December.
Darren Calabrese/THE CANADIAN PRESSATLANTA?The Leafs battle this season to keep their game ?simple? is beginning to turn the corner towards something the coaching staff wants to see.
And the best approach for tonight?s opponent looks like it would be a simple one against an Atlanta Thrashers team that is among the league leaders in scoring by defenceman.
The Thrashers are ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference and have become one of the better stories in the NHL this season. They?ve turned a team that struggles to make the playoffs into an emerging powerhouse?and a lot of it comes from the blueline.
Atlanta?s defence has combined for 108 points, second in the NHL to Detroit. The big man is Dustin Byfuglien, a forward who has returned to defence this season for the first time since 2007-08, and is leading the league in defenceman scoring with 41 points.
?We have to have five guys in all three zones on the ice before they do,? Leafs assistant coach Tim Hunter said Friday ahead of the 7:30 p.m. start.
?They are very good at getting a fourth guy into the rush (a defenceman), and with Byfuglien, you have to get into the shooting lanes because he has a tremendous shot. He?s a former forward too so he has that vision of the ice that can cause trouble for the opposition.?
The Leafs are trying to get their centres to replicate what Hunter said, knowing where the puck is at all times.
One big improvement the Leafs are seeing is with Mikhail Grabovski. After spending much of last season trying to get the quick skating centre to improve his game in all three zones of the ice, the Leafs are now seeing some solid work from him.
Grabovski now has 10 goals in his last 13 games and has arguably been one of the NHL?s most dangerous forwards since the beginning of December.
The Leafs showed some benefits of simplifying their game in Thursday?s 6-5 shootout win over St. Louis, but the team also continued its season-long struggles with turnovers and inconsistent play in the defensive zone.
?We?re trying to simplify things, getting pucks going quickly out of our zone, getting them going north in a hurry to the offensive zone,? Hunter said.
?We?ve done a good job lately, but we?re still not winning battles to pucks in our own zone, and getting those pucks to our forwards.?
The Leafs, meanwhile, took the morning off. The club has begun a four-game road trip that will see them play three games in Los Angeles, San Jose, and then Phoenix, before returning home for a game against Calgary the following Saturday.
While there is no official announcement, it?s expected James Reimer will get the start in goal tonight.
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