Practice Update - 12/20/2016

After playing their final home game of the calendar year 2016 - a 3-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks Monday at Air Canada Centre - the Maple Leafs were back at work Tuesday at their practice facility, preparing for a four-game road trip that will end on Dec. 29. And when they look back at the games that haven't gone their way this season, Toronto's players can take some solace in the fact they've been in a position to win the grand majority of them.

Indeed, of the Leafs' 19 total losses this year - 12 in regulation time, and seven in overtime or the shootout - all but six have ended with just one goal separating Toronto from their opponents. And while 12 one-goal defeats isn't something the players are happy with, they recognize that tweaking their approach and paying attention to the smaller elements of their game plan is a lot better than being blown out more often than not.
"We know we're right there in every game," said Leafs winger James van Riemsdyk. "It's just about focusing on those minor things that can push us over the edge."
"We have some breakdowns and they cost us the games," added winger Zach Hyman. "Getting close isn't good enough for us. We want to get wins. I think we've been getting better. We're in every game, a lot of the games we've outplayed the other team, and just (didn't get) the outcome we want. I think as the season goes on, we've been getting better as a team. And I think that's a positive sign."
Monday's loss to the Ducks was a good example of Toronto's minor miscues that become key turning points and wind up hurting the Leafs in the bigger picture: the Buds took the first lead of the game against a veteran Anaheim squad and outshot them 35-28 on the night, but the Ducks generated a pair of power play goals and buckled down (with a lot of help from goalie John Gibson) to prevent Toronto from coming back late in the contest.
That loss was disappointing, especially because it came in the wake of an excellent 2-1 Leafs overtime win over the defending Stanley Cup-champion Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday. But if the Ducks game felt familiar to Leafs fans, that's because it was - most recently, in a 3-2 shootout loss to Arizona last Thursday, the same symptoms were apparent.
"In the Arizona game, we had a lot of chances," said Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen, one of Toronto's best players of late. "We have the puck for a full shift in their end, and then all of a sudden we get too impatient and jump up, and they get a breakaway. Out of a great shift, they get the better chance."
Like his teammates and team management, Andersen is heartened by the strong stretches Toronto is capable of producing. But he believes mental errors are what is setting the Leafs back from taking the next step and becoming a consistently dangerous club that has the patience and belief in itself to not take unnecessary risk and wait for the game to come to them.
"I think we're playing really good and we're creating a lot of chances," Andersen said. "We want to win every night and we have a chance, but we kind of keep shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit, whether it's sitting in the (penalty) box for dumb stuff and maybe not-so-necessary stuff, and discipline in our game play and not taking care of each other on the ice, it gets us in trouble maybe more than we need to."
Andersen said his former teammates in Anaheim provide a terrific example of what it means to be a patient team that waits however long it takes to get a high-quality scoring chance.
"I don't think they outplayed us," Andersen said of the Ducks, who got five man advantages from Toronto on Monday. "It was an even game. They just have more experience. They're waiting for their chances on the (power play), they feed off the PP, and they play patient the rest of the way. They don't give up too much. And that's something I think we can learn a lot from."
The Leafs' road trip takes them to Colorado (who they lost to by a 3-1 score on Dec. 11) Thursday and to Arizona the following night. Then, following the NHL's holiday break, they're in Florida next Wednesday and Thursday for games against the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning. Toronto's players are well-aware they can't continue to hurt themselves, pick up a standings point here or there in a game decided by shootouts or overtime, and expect to challenge for a playoff berth in the spring. They also need to improve a road record (3-6-5) that has watered-down the impact of their strong play at the ACC.
But they also can't lose sight of the bigger picture and allow impatience to undermine the steps forward the franchise has taken thus far.
"It's a big stretch for us coming up, so we've got to find a way to have some success on the road," van Riemsdyk said. "You've got to be way more detailed and execute better within your structure on the road, just because you know the other team is getting the matchups they want. So you've got to make sure you're really disciplined in the way you play.