The Toronto Maple Leafs stumbled out of the gate to kick off the 2025-26 season, in large part because their special teams both faltered early on. It didn’t help that they were subject to some less-than-stellar goaltending in addition to their usual tendency to struggle in October, but when you’re giving up power play goals every game and failing to convert on your own opportunities, it’s a recipe for disaster.

The Maple Leafs probably aren’t thrilled that they’re entering the second week of January sitting one point out of a wildcard spot, but they’ve been playing their best hockey of the season lately. Since a three-game losing streak the weekend before Christmas, the Leafs are 7-0-2 in their last nine games, and thanks to the beauty of league parity, they’re just as much in it as any other team.

One of the main reasons the Leafs have been so dominant over the past few weeks has been their revitalized penalty kill. Led by newly-appointed penalty kill coach Derek Lalonde on the bench and forwards Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz up front on the ice, the Leafs have thrived when at a disadvantage to the point where their penalty kill has risen up to third in the league with a success rate of 85.3%, sitting behind only the Colorado Avalanche and the Buffalo Sabres. This is all despite the absence of defensive juggernaut Chris Tanev for much of the season, as well. Since December 23rd, the team has a penalty kill percentage of 95.2%, good for best in the league by a significant margin.

“We have great PKers, great D, great forwards out there,” goaltender Joseph Woll told reporters following the Maple Leafs’ 5-0 shutout win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. “Special teams are important, especially come playoff time, so I think getting that dialed in is very important for us, and yeah. We have a great PK and I feel confident when we go out there.”

The emergence of Laughton as their most trusted defensive centre has been the main story of the penalty kill’s success. Following the Maple Leafs’ win over Vancouver, Laughton had won 36 of his last 40 faceoffs. It’s a torrid run that’s also seen him score a couple of shorthanded goals, giving him the makings of one of the best penalty killers in the league. While Laughton will brush off his own accomplishments in favour of team success, his teammates have taken notice of his dominance and what it’s done for their penalty kill unit.

“Yeah, probably going to win that draw,” Woll said with a laugh when asked how he felt seeing Laughton hit the ice for a faceoff. “It’s nice, we were just talking about especially on the PK, when you have a guy like Laughts out there taking draws, and you know, he’s playing at that percentage, it’s pretty great. Obviously a great way to start off a kill, and yeah, he’s been buzzing.”

Laughton has been stealing most of the headlines thanks to his torrid numbers in the dot, but speaking to reporters following the Leafs’ 2-1 overtime win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night, he made sure to point out that it’s a total team effort. The return of defenceman Brandon Carlo has also been a big help for the penalty kill, and the Leafs have gotten strong performances out of both Woll and goaltender Dennis Hildeby in recent weeks, which makes a big difference too.

“A lot of commitment,” Laughton said when asked what he saw from the Leafs’ penalty kill. “Beast [Hildeby] was our best penalty killer, and that’s what you need. You need your goalie to be your best penalty killer, that’s what happens. We go 5-on-3 there for a little bit, Brando [Carlo] was awesome again, our D were great, getting in shot lanes. Benny [Simon Benoit] had a big block. Just keep finding a way.”

Head coach Craig Berube has had more of a chipper vibe to his press conferences since the Leafs have turned it around, which is to be expected — the mood will always be better when things are going well. But, it has to make the defensive-focused head coach a little extra warm inside knowing that these wins are coming from good habits defensively, and he proudly touted his penalty kill as an area of strength when discussing it following the Maple Leafs’ win over the Canucks.

“It’s a great weapon. We’re a good faceoff team, but he’s been on a roll,” Berube said of Laughton. “Especially on the penatly kill, he starts on his off-side a lot, but he wins them a lot, which is huge. Gets the puck down the ice, kills momentum on the power play a little bit, so he’s been very effective.”

The penalty kill was a bit of a question mark heading into the 2025-26 season. They were a middle of the pack team on the penalty kill in 2024-25, finishing 17th in the league in that category, and they lost a number of notable pieces of their penalty kill over the summer. Former penalty kill coach Lane Lambert took a job as the Seattle Kraken’s head coach, star two-way player Mitch Marner went to Vegas, and David Kampf had his contract terminated before signing with the Vancouver Canucks.

It took a little bit for them to get things going, but under Lalonde’s guidance and thanks to Laughton’s dominance up front, their penalty kill has gone from a liability, to manageable, to a force. And if they want to make a deep playoff run in 2025-26, continued dominance in this area will be a huge help in getting them where they want to be.

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