When the Maple Leafs said they were hankering to get the heck out of Toronto, clearly we should have believed them.

Never mind that when they set out on a six-game road trip, which ended with Thursday’s 5-1 win in Carolina, they were the worst road team in the NHL and residing in last place in the Eastern Conference. Over the sojourn that began in Montreal almost two weeks ago, the Leafs procured eight of a possible 12 points in the standings. And if the wins were nice, the defensive numbers were even nicer.

The Leafs allowed precisely one goal in three of those wins. Before that stretch of stinginess, it had been more than a month since the Leafs got a win while allowing one goal or less.

Some of the success came down to simple hard work. The Leafs, guilty of slow-footed complac

See Full Page