The Leafs defensively have been a story of 2 halves this season:
From Oct 1 - Jan 1:
2.77 xGA/60 - The 7th worst in the league (25th)
12.32 high danger chances against/60 - The 7th worst in the league (25th)
They were horrendous to start and it looked that way
From Jan 1 - Today:
2.48 xGA/60 - 13th in the league
10.52 high danger chances against/60 - 13th in the league
They are now a middling team defensively, not as good as they were last year but they have also hit another level offensively to counter that. It may not look pretty, and it isn't close to perfect, but they turned it around.
We will see what defense we get in the playoffs, if they can just be alright we can win