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It took less than 24 hours for Leafs fans to have the sentiment of “this team’s different” thrown back in their faces. Following Toronto’s 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, Jay Rosehill joined me on The Leafs Nation After Dark Show and dove into some of the biggest differences the team displayed in that win from seasons' past. Starting on time, taking the game to the opponent, never taking their foot off the gas, reliable goaltending, and physical domination were just a few of the things that were brought up between the two of us highlighting the impressive victory.

“It’s so hard to get 60 minutes out of the Toronto Maple Leafs the last couple of years, and that’s the one we were looking for," Rosehill said on TLN After Dark. 

As impressive as the win was, the only hole I could poke in Jay's bubble of optimism was whether this was their identity — something they would continue to do on a nightly basis — or if this yet again was just a flash of brilliance that tells us they have the ability but maybe don’t always feel the need to show up and do it. It's an attitude that we’ve seen established in this group for the last nine years that has not fostered success when it matters the most. 

Naturally, as Leafs fans, we couldn’t allow ourselves to be too happy for too long, so we started to look ahead and wonder how things would go the following night against Columbus. It was a back-to-back, with the third-string goalie in net, and coming off an emotional win: all elements that would lead to a poor showing in years' past. Would this be different?

I challenged him on the idea that this team might have changed based on history, bringing up the idea that there’s a difference between elite and great teams.

"Are you an elite team or are you a really good team? If you’re an elite team, you show up tomorrow!"

Rosehill's response was what I had hoped for and truthfully what I had already expected of Berube myself, that Berube wouldn't let them take the night off. 

I did, and still do agree with Rosehill. I don’t think Berube allowed them to do anything like what we saw them do Wednesday. I think this goes beyond Brad Treliving, Berube, and this new staff. A fundamental issue has developed in this team’s core group and hasn’t been shaken out of them in the nine years they’ve been here together. 

It’s something that seems to affect their ability to routinely give a 60-minute effort against bad teams, close out games they have leads in, or even find ways to take over games when it’s tough and hard to create anything. What I saw last night was a direct flashback to the worst of the Sheldon Keefe days where it seemed as though they would pick and choose what nights they wanted to play.

If this group wants to win anything here in Toronto, they need to find a way to get these habits out of their system, before Treliving and Berube decide a change is needed.

TLN After Dark: Are the Maple Leafs prone to complacency even with a new coach?

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