Maple Leafs’ power-play failures costing points in Atlantic Division

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Easton Cowan can’t stop to think.

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The Maple Leafs rookie is finding he has to make quicker decisions on the power play than what he experienced in dominating at the junior level with the London Knights.

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It’s good that Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube is giving Cowan a long look on the Leafs’ top power-play unit, but the 20-year-old remains in search of his first point with a man advantage in the National Hockey League.

“It’s a lot different than junior,” Cowan said after taking part in the Leafs’ optional practice on Sunday at the Ford Performance Centre. “The penalty killers have better sticks, it’s bigger bodies, they’re better at blocking shots.

“I think we could put more pucks to the net and hopefully have more second, third chances at it.”

Prior to Sunday, the Leafs were 30th on the power play at 14.1%, better than only the Los Angeles Kings (13.8%) and the Calgary Flames (13.7%).

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If assistant coach Marc Savard isn’t losing sleep over the lack of success with a man advantage, he should be. With captain Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares at his disposal, Savard isn’t holding up his end.

It’s hard to comprehend that Matthews has one power-play goal this season. The inability to find a way for Matthews to properly find space to use his shot on the man advantage has been a major failure for Toronto.

With the standings as packed tightly as they are, a power-play goal here or there could make the difference not only in games but in the standings. The 2-1 shootout loss by the Leafs to the Montreal Canadiens was a good example, as Toronto went 0-for-3 with a man advantage.

To make matters more daunting, the Leafs’ opponent on Monday night at Scotiabank Arena, the Tampa Bay Lightning, was tied in the NHL for second on the penalty kill at 86.7% through Saturday.

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Other areas of interest on a quiet Sunday at the rink:

Standings out

Berube doesn’t spend a lot of time perusing the standings in the Eastern Conference.

That’s smart on his part.

What makes sense one day might not the next, and if there has been anything to glean as the regular season progresses, it’s that full clarity in the East probably won’t be known until mid-April, on the eve of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Two weeks ago, the Leafs were in last place in the conference. Since, they’ve won four of six and gained another point against Montreal on Saturday, putting the Leafs just four points out of first place in the Atlantic Division, behind the Lightning and the Boston Bruins, going into Sunday. A Montreal win against St. Louis on Sunday night would put them into first in the division, one point ahead of Tampa and Boston and five up on Toronto.

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At the same time, the Leafs were just four points clear of last place in the conference, a spot belonging again to the Buffalo Sabres.

“I don’t think you focus on that,” Berube said. “It’ll take care of itself (if) we take care of our business. I wouldn’t get caught up in looking at the standings.”

No team, it appears, will run away with the Atlantic. Whether the Leafs can differentiate themselves from the group remains questionable.

The Lightning hits town with three consecutive losses and is coping with injuries to star forwards Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, as well as goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Why did Berube decide on an optional practice rather than a full workout?

“A long road trip (ended on Thursday in Carolina) and I felt our energy was pretty low in the (Montreal) game, not so much in the first period, but after that, it was pretty low,” Berube said. “A lot of guys needed rest.”

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Tanev appointment

There could be some good news regarding the status of defenceman Chris Tanev later this week.

Tanev, out since suffering an upper-body injury against the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 1, has a scheduled meeting with doctors on Wednesday, Berube said.

“We should know some information after that, where he’s at,” Berube said. “He feels good. He’s skating, working hard.”

Tanev was one of 10 players, as well as goalie Artur Akhtyamov, who were on the ice on Sunday.

If Tanev returns in the relatively near future, Philippe Myers presumably would come out. The bigger question: Does Tanev automatically get his spot back alongside Jake McCabe, or does Berube leave Troy Stecher — who has been solid for the Leafs since being claimed off waivers from the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 15 — with McCabe?

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A pairing of Tanev with Simon Benoit could work, assuming Berube maintains the Morgan Rielly-Oliver Ekman-Larsson pairing.

No matter what shakes out, it more or less goes without saying that the Leafs will have a shot to improve once Tanev, who has missed all but eight games, returns.

As for Anthony Stolarz (upper body) and Joseph Woll (lower body), nothing has changed. There’s still no clarity on Stolarz, Berube said, and the goalie has remained off the ice. Woll “is progressing the right way” and Berube maintained that a return by Woll probably could happen this week.

tkoshan@postmedia.com

X: @koshtorontosun

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