Only two games in a span of 12 days – albeit with travel to Europe and back – offers an opportunity to not only rest and heal early during the season but also to use the practice time to clean up some of the early-season issues.
One of the early-season issues for the Leafs has been their penalty kill, which went to Sweden with a 72 percent success rate (27th in the league) after conceding 14 goals in the previous 15 games.
In Sweden, the PK went seven for seven. What changed, if anything?
First and foremost, it’s worth noting that the Leafs played the Red Wings and Wild, who rank 17th and 24th in power-play efficiency, respectively.