It’s a good time to be a Toronto hockey fan right now. With five wins in their last six games and uh, four in a row, the Leafs are sitting pretty in third place in the Atlantic Division.

There’s been a lot to like of their play over the last few games, as the process has appeared just as pretty as the results.

So we asked our staff: What have you been most impressed with on the Leafs four game win streak?

The win’s.

The way they’ve dictated play. The scratching of Martin and the illness of Polak has forced Babcock to inject speed and skill into the lineup which has in turn forced teams to finally match up against the Leafs instead of the other way around. The mark of a true championship team is being so good at what you do that opponents need to game plan around it. For the first time since early October, it feels like they’re finally playing like a force to be reckoned with.

For me, it’s been the total shift in Babcock’s entire philosophy. Earlier, it seemed like he couldn’t stand to be in the same room as Connor Carrick. Now, he’s quarterbacking the Matthews PP unit. Babcock has always been quick to shelter the minutes of rookies, and yet last night the Dermott-Holl pairing started nearly all their shifts in the defensive zone. And, most notably, Matt Martin is in the press box, with no signs of him drawing into the lineup anytime soon. It genuinely seems lime Babcock hit his head & begin doing everything fans had been screaming at him to do for months. I love it. Alternative answer: Travis Dermott’s face. Everything about it. He’s perfect.

My favourite thing about this win streak is that they have allowed only 1 goal against in the last 3 games, and 0.3 fewer Corsis Against per hour (while leading for the majority of each game). This response came despite the moves they made being counterintuitive from all the things that are supposed to make you better defensively. They took out the bruising, physical, defensively responsible bottom pairing defenseman in Roman Polak. They took away the veteran presence who has to play every second against top competition in Ron Hainsey. They broke up the checking line that also has to play every second against top competition by swapping Komarov and Marner. And it has paid off thanks to players like Dermott showing that you don’t have to be 25 before you can be a good defenseman in the NHL.

Most impressive thing? I mean I certainly enjoy that they’ve outscored their opponents 16-3 (mostly) on the road. I was definitely impressed by Nylander’s penalty shot OT goal, Hyman’s goal last night vs the Rangers (where did those hands come from?), Travis Dermott looking like a legitimate stud (his play and looks), and that Babcock has rolled out some really fun lineups. I have two answers to answer this question, though. One, I’ve been floored with how great the fourth line looks. Seeing Uncle Leo on that line is a sigh of relief and watching Kapanen do Kapanen is entirely way too much fun. Two, how about this goaltending? Freddy Andersen has looked spectacular. I’ve always liked him so seeing him perform well is a blast. Even McElhinney hasn’t been a complete tire fire! Just one goal against Dallas and shutting out the Rangers is real cool.

For me, the most impressive part is that Babcock has actually been deploying lines efficiently. Not only are the lines a lot better, and he’s scratching the right players, but he’s also rolling all four lines, not just giving Kadri’s line the toughs, sheltering Bozak’s line, etc. Also, he’s experimenting a bit with other areas too, such as giving Kapanen/Dermott/Holl PK time. As great as the team has been, a lot of this probably wouldn’t be as good if Babcock hadn’t started to make some smarter decisions