Although the Toronto Maple Leafs lost in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, Matthew Knies was able to find some genuine positives from the game.

Knies is very happy with the team’s identity to this point of the season, and felt like the Maple Leafs were the better team against their Atlantic Division rivals.

“I thought we played pretty well, I thought we had a lot of shots on net,” Knies stated post-game following the 3-2 overtime loss. “Special teams was good, I thought we made some great plays, I thought we were above them.”

Knies believes the team’s comfort level is a key reason why the Maple Leafs have been playing better over the past week. Approaching the 40-game mark, it’s become obvious the team is more aligned, and in tune with each other on the ice. Despite the early-season struggles, Toronto is trending in the right direction.

“I think we’ve found an identity and I think we’re playing pretty consistent in that. I think there’s a lot of chemistry between lines now, I think we just found our groove.”

While the Maple Leafs lost in overtime against the Red Wings, they’ve been playing a much better game these last couple of weeks. Toronto is 17-15-6 on the season, two points behind the Florida Panthers for the second wild-card position, but there’s also six teams to leapfrog.

The Maple Leafs head home to host the New Jersey Devils and Winnipeg Jets this week, and will head to Long Island on Saturday to face off against the Islanders. Knies knows it’s important to keep everything, and everyone pushing in the same direction, with an uphill climb still at task.

“We’re getting to the half-way point here, so it’s good that we see it now. We’re going to climb back here in the standings. We have a pretty resilient group in there, we’re going to try and keep this momentum up, keep working.”