Toronto Maple Leafs learning to deal with having a target on their back

TORONTO – Mike Babcock says life at the top isn’t for everyone.

The head coach of the Maple Leafs no doubt enjoyed his team’s fast start to the season — an early surge that saw Toronto score an NHL-high 33 goals in racing out to six victories in seven games for what was at the time the NHL’s best record.

But after consecutive home losses where they found the back of the opposition net just once, the Leafs are learning that having a target on their collective back as headline-grabbing Stanley Cup contenders makes the schedule’s daily grind all the more difficult.

“Everyone wants to be the best,” Babcock said after Tuesday’s practice. “That means bringing it every day. That means you’ve got to do your part every single day.

“Sometimes it’s better for some guys just to hide on a team that’s not as good. You get your points, you go home, no one ever worries about it.”

Babcock would know.

He won a Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008 and led Canada to gold at both the 2010 and 2014 Olympics before eventually joining the sad-sack Leafs in 2015.

Toronto has undergone a remarkable turnaround since with a series of moves that included tanking in order to draft Auston Matthews in 2016 and the free-agent signing of fellow star centre John Tavares this summer. But Babcock said the Leafs still have a lot to learn when it comes to being a group every other club is gunning for on a nightly basis.

“If you want to be on the big stage playing with the best teams, you’ve got to want it every single day,” he added. “That’s the challenge.”

The Leafs failed to match the intensity and work ethic of the Pittsburgh Penguins (3-0 loss) and the St. Louis Blues (4-1 loss) in recent performances where they were either unwilling or unable to get to the tough areas in the middle of the ice.

“Everyone wanted to talk about how many goals we were scoring,” said Toronto centre Nazem Kadri, who remains without one himself despite numerous chances. “We all knew eventually it was going to tighten up.”

Babcock focused on skating — read, work ethic — during Sunday’s session before touching on positioning and breakouts Tuesday in hopes of making things easier on the player looking to make a pass.

“Everybody’s finding their game and getting their systems implemented,” Leafs winger Patrick Marleau said. “The more games you play, the more coaches go over it and players get more adapted to it.”

Toronto (6-3-0) relied heavily on the power play as part of their initial blitz — the unit still sat second in the league heading into Tuesday’s action — but needs to find ways to create more at 5 on 5, especially against bigger clubs like Pittsburgh, St. Louis and the Winnipeg Jets, who the Leafs visit Wednesday.

“Everyone comes ready to play and has a gameplan to execute against us,” Kadri said. “We’ve just got to give each other more support and help each other out by working harder to get in those areas where you’re available and can be open.”

Because of the team they play for, Kadri added that the Leafs need to expect the opposition’s best each shift.

“Everybody comes to Toronto ready,” he said. “It’s kind of under the microscope, the hockey Mecca.

“I’m sure they’re sick of hearing everything about the Leafs.”

The Jets (6-2-1), who took a massive step last season by making the Western Conference final for the first time in Winnipeg’s hockey history, present a difficult task with Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine — selected No. 2 behind Matthews at the 2016 draft — up front to lead a powerful forward group.

“They’ve got some high-profile players that don’t need much time and space,” Kadri said. “You think you keep them off (the scoresheet) the majority of the game and things aren’t going that well.

“Then they just find one shift to be able to make it count.”

Winnipeg, which has won three straight, including Monday’s wild 5-4 overtime victory against St. Louis, also has a strong defence corps accented by Dustin Byfuglien, Josh Morrissey, Jacob Trouba and Tyler Myers, and the steady goaltending Connor Hellebuyck.

“Big, heavy team,” Marleau said. “It’s going to be a good game for us to get our game going again.”

Notes: Winnipeg plays at Detroit on Friday before visiting Toronto on Saturday for the rematch against the Leafs. … Toronto announced it will open next season’s training camp in St. John’s, N.L., and also play a pre-season game against the Ottawa Senators at Mile One Centre.

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