» LEAF TAKEAWAYS: Circling the wagons will help Leafs on playoff trail

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If defence wins championships — or even one playoff round — consider the Maple Leafs true blue believers.

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When Craig Berube moved behind the bench, his mandate was to make Toronto tougher to play against through 200 feet, not just from the blueline in with its dazzling offence.

On the cusp of the Atlantic Division title, needing a point on Tuesday in Buffalo, the Leafs are coming off a most impressive stretch of holding the fort: Back-to-back wins with one goal allowed and just 12 surrendered in their past eight after Sunday’s 4-1 decision in Carolina.

Their goaltending tandem is the best it’s been in years, but it’s also about shot-blocking, puck-moving defencemen, bottom-six forwards who check furiously, and scorers doing double-duty grunt work.

Where Sheldon Keefe had the team trending in that direction, Berube’s Leafs are locking it down with only two regular season games to go.

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“It’s big, it’s not something we’ve done of a lot in the past,” said Morgan Rielly to reporters in Raleigh on Sunday. “But if you look at recent games, they’ve all been close. It’s a good opportunity for our guys to get comfortable (in playoff pressure)

“It can be nerve-wracking. But the more you execute, the more you rely on structure, the more you come out on top.”

Last year’s team lost its last four regular-season games as a prelude to falling behind 3-1 to Boston in its series (albeit with injuries up front). This edition has come with absences at all positions most of the season.

Now to turn a 50-win, 100-point campaign into something more than the wrong end of a first-round handshake line. The reward for this regular-schedule haul should be their first ever Atlantic Division title and first of any kind in 25 years.

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GET BACK-T0-BACK

Sunday brought a merciful end to 16 back-to-back situations for Toronto, something it won’t likely have to worry about in the playoffs.

Since the New Year, the Leafs were 5-0-1 in the second match and 10-4-2 overall. This most recent double dip featured a wild 1-0 OT home win against Montreal, using just five defencemen, then flying to Tobacco Road to play less than 24 hours later against one of the NHL’s best home teams.

“I’m proud of the group for how they responded this year,” Berube said. “Guys have done a good job being smart, playing the right way, defending and not opening up too much.”

Rielly could see that gradual change at the 4 Nations Face-off as all 32 teams were subjected to a crowded calendar sandwiched around the two-week break, never mind those stars who had no hiatus while they were participating in the tournament.

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“At the end of January, the schedule was a little daunting,” Rielly said. “Guys did a great job not complaining about it too much. Our training staff was great.”

GAME ON

Joseph Woll and the Leafs were under siege in the first period on Sunday, until one of Berube’s experimental lines reversed the momentum.

Pontus Holmberg, who had at least been drawing penalties through his 20-game scoring drought, had a strong game between Bobby McMann and Nick Robertson, pouncing on a fat rebound from Rielly that ex-Leaf Freddy Andersen kicked out to the slot.

From there, William Nylander and John Tavares — both on primary setups from their new left winger, Max Domi — along with Auston Matthews from scored in support of Woll. In tandem with his defence, Woll nearly killed a double minor to Chris Tanev before Sebastian Aho scored on one of 27 shots.

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If Woll has to watch seven-straight game-winner Anthony Stolarz in Game 1 against the Ottawa Senators or Florida Panthers, he could easily move into a rotation, as unorthodox as that would be in the playoffs for a Toronto team that has often found it hard to keep a No. 1 goalie in the driver’s seat.

LOOSE LEAFS

While political tensions might limit Leafs fans crossing the border to watch the game in Buffalo, they could see two significant individual milestones. Matthews is sitting at 399 career goals, Mitch Marner at 99 points … Tavares had an excellent 19 points in the second game of back-to-backs through the season … Defenceman Dakota Mermis played more than 15 minutes on Sunday as an emergency recall while the Leafs await updates on Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson … D-man Simon Benoit, who saw 51/2 minutes of short-handed duty, also reached 200 hits for this season … The farm-team Marlies are going down to the wire trying to clinch a playoff berth. After a 6-5 shootout loss in Cleveland on Sunday, they’re amid four teams separated by six points in their division. Winger Alex Steeves had a three-point game, while goalie Dennis Hildeby fell to 1-3 in shootouts.

Lhornby@postmedia.com

X: @sunhornby

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