DRAPED IN A towel, Anthony Edwards burst into the Target Center home locker room befuddled.

The Minnesota Timberwolves had just rallied from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Denver Nuggets. Still, Edwards, too confused to celebrate, knew something was amiss after their Nov. 1 win. The All-Star playfully pinpointed Minnesota assistant coach Micah Nori, a former Denver staffer who worked closely with Nikola Jokic during the Nuggets superstar's first three NBA seasons.

"I'm sorry, y'all," Edwards said, apologizing to reporters for interrupting the scrum around Rudy Gobert's locker. "Hey, I was just telling Micah, how this mother---er knew the play we was runnin'?"

"We have a spy on the bench, man," Gobert said.

Midway through the fourth quarter, coming out of a timeout, Jokic saw Edwards and Gobert line up just above the two elbows. He then gestured to his teammates exactly what the Timberwolves were running.

"Jokic knew the play, but we didn't say anything," said Gobert, who, in the moment, exchanged a baffled glance with Edwards before staring at Jokic in bewildered awe. "He knew the play better than us."

Down the hall, in the visitors locker room, Jokic shrugged when confronted with the accusation. He noted how often the Nuggets had faced the Timberwolves the previous season when the teams played four regular-season games and a seven-game Western Conference semifinal series.

The three-time MVP's basketball IQ doesn't surprise most by now. He's one of the best players in the world for a reason, averaging 29.7 points and 10.2 assists. But his unconventional tactics on the other end of the floor, whether it's purposely kicking the ball or memorizing opponent's plays, often leave players, coaches and fans in awe. And despite his obvious athletic limitations, the 6-foot-11 big has grown into a defensive analytics darling.

And in Minnesota's locker room that night, one of Joker's best tricks was puzzling the Wolves.

"Me and Rudy looked at each other and said, 'How the f--- do he know?'" Edwards asked, exasperation dripping from his voice. "That motherf---er cheating, bruh." "Yeah," Gobert said, addressing the scrum again. "We got to launch an investigation."

AFTER BEING PICKED in the second round of the 2014 draft by the Nuggets, Jokic went to the P3 Applied Sports Science lab in Santa Barbara, California, for testing. The then-20-year-old's athleticism results were bleak.

Most glaringly, Jokic did a standing vertical leap and only got 17 inches off the ground; the worst recording for any of the 1,000-plus NBA players the lab has ever tested. It'd be an obvious concern for any player, let alone a center who would be tasked with protecting the rim.

On top of that, when looking at rotation players who log an average of 2 miles of distance each game, Jokic ranks third-to-last this season in the NBA in terms of how often he's running "fast," doing so just 2.9% of the time, according to Second Spectrum. It would mark the sixth time in a seven-season span that he ranks in the NBA's bottom 10 in speed.

And during the 2019-20 season, one year before winning his first MVP award, Jokic was the slowest player in the league.

"I'm patient because I cannot really run fast, and that's my only option," Jokic said then of his plodding pace.

Despite his inability to run or jump like other players, Jokic has accomplished something remarkable: The center is a perennial advanced-metrics juggernaut on defense, routinely finishing with better big-picture numbers than Gobert, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year, or future Hall of Fame defender Draymond Green.

Defensive box plus-minus, which measures a player's box-score defensive impact and value to his team per 100 possessions, has been pointing to Jokic as the NBA's most valuable defender for years now. He has finished No. 1 in the metric for the past three seasons and is within striking distance of doing it for a fourth.

How could that be the case, given his obvious physical limitations? What are the analytics seeing in Jokic that traditional observers can't, even after all this time?

Those around the star say it all starts with Jokic's impeccable recall and anticipation of opponents' tendencies and playcalls.

"A lot of times on out-of-bounds plays, he'll literally move you into the spot. He does it every single game. [Viewers] may not see it, and it might be subtle, but he moves you into your spot," wing Christian Braun told ESPN. "He's going to look at you and tell you, 'Hey, this is what's coming; this was their call.' You'll see him looking at the other coach to hear their call. He knows what's coming and knows the best way to guard it."

Added Nuggets forward Peyton Watson: "I haven't seen him be wrong [when calling out a play]," he told ESPN. "Dude's on another level intellectually with the game. ... So we'll be waiting on the day when he's wrong."

Jokic's memory bank as a defender is robust, according to Nuggets assistant coach Popeye Jones. "If a team tries to go back to [the exact same out-of-bounds play] the next year, he'll still remember it," Jones told ESPN.

Still, calling out plays is far from Jokic's only defensive skill. Despite his lack of speed, he has quietly been one of the NBA's most active stoppers.

HIS WORLD-CLASS talent on the court is well known -- with Jokic having won Most Valuable Player three out of the past four seasons. But over the years, Jokic has given the impression he could be good at just about any sport.

Weeks after winning Finals MVP and leading the Nuggets to the NBA title in 2023, Jokic became a horse-racing champion in his native Serbia. He has shown off his stellar QB talent by rifling a one-armed 66-foot lob -- an inbound pass from the sideline, no less -- that resulted in an Aaron Gordon dunk against Memphis in 2023. Plus, mostly recently nailing a half-court, one-handed buzzer-beater against the Jazz on March 28. And countless times in his career, Jokic has spun around after grabbing a board and, in one fluid motion, flung a water-polo-style pass the length of the floor to a teammate.

Early in his career, the Nuggets played far more drop coverage on defense, with Jokic often sinking into the paint for rim protection. In recent years, though, he has played much further up against pick-and-rolls -- closer to the arc -- as a way to impede the ball handler and force complicated passes to the roll man.

Wing players generally have a split second to decide to throw a pocket pass to their screener, who streaking behind the defense towards the basket. For defenders, there's even less time to disrupt that pass.

But for the Joker -- currently on pace to lead NBA centers in deflections (240) for a sixth straight season -- a split second is plenty of time to knock a pass out of the way.

"We have him up at the level [of the screen] a lot, and when teams try to find that pass to the big, to get behind us, Nikola's shown that he has an uncanny ability to break those passes up," Denver coach Michael Malone said. "Hands. Feet. Whatever he's got to use."

And Jokic uses his feet a lot.

So frequently that players throughout the NBA have noticed. Green, when asked by ESPN to discuss Jokic's unorthodox defense, the Golden State stalwart, already knew where the conversation was headed.

"Is it gonna be about his million kick ball [violations]?" Green asked with a laugh.

Indeed, in recent years no one in the NBA has stopped the game more by kicking the ball than Jokic. Since the start of 2020, the superstar has been whistled for a whopping 127 kicked-ball violations, between his regular-season and postseason games. In the 2022-23 season alone, Jokic logged 56 kicked balls; more than any other team did. For perspective, the league's next-closest player, Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic, has recorded just 66 kicked-ball violations total since the start of 2020.

Aside from the sheer wildness of those numbers -- or the fact that Jokic is extremely balanced, having committed 67 violations with his right foot and 60 with his left -- is the idea that the center has essentially found a cheat code on defense. In being able to time the plays perfectly, Jokic can effectively press pause and short-circuit the opposing team's offense whenever he feels like it, forcing a possession to restart.

Take, for instance, a play from Game 4 of the 2023 NBA Finals, in which Jokic quickly extended his left leg into the path of a backdoor pass from Bam Adebayo to Duncan Robinson. "It's a kick-ball violation, but it stops what probably would have been a layup," ABC play-by-play announcer Mike Breen during the telecast. The stoppage marked Jokic's fourth kicked ball of the contest. (The center has had as many five kicks in a game, and somehow managed to log three kicks in six minutes against Miami another time.)

Few players have had more passes disrupted by Jokic than Green, who explained the wisdom of the tactic. "What all of us are trying to do in the NBA is avoid having to face a set defense," Green, a former Defensive Player of the Year, told ESPN. "So if you have them in a bad way, where you've got a clear 2-on-1, he just kicks the ball, stops the play, and it's a side out. Guess what? That allows them to reset their defense." In all, Green has had a total of nine passes impacted by a Jokic kicked ball since 2020.

Green said there was a time when Jokic, newer to the league still, seemed not to care about defense. But despite how otherworldly Jokic was becoming on offense, the Nuggets knew better than to take the ultimate step without him being a better defender.

"He knew that if they wanted to win at a high level and become a champion, he couldn't be a liability. Now he's become a strength on that side of the floor and learned how to anchor a defense," Green said. "He literally willed himself to become better on defense."

Undoubtedly some of the improvement stemmed from sheer experience. And a great deal can likely be attributed to him getting in better physical shape after his first few years in the league. But at a certain point, Jokic began letting his brainpower and photographic memory make up for what he lacked in footspeed or athleticism.

"[A player's] mind isn't limited to one end of the floor, and he's obviously an elite thinker out there," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "He's got instincts, and they translate to every part of his game."

United States captain Kate Zackary has signed a contract extension at Premiership Women's Rugby side Trailfinders Women.

Thy 35-year-old back-row will begin a third campaign in Ealing having moved from Exeter in 2023, making 26 appearances.

This past season she scored six tries as the London side finished seventh in the table with five wins and 11 losses.

Zackary, who has played in the last two World Cups, was one of the biggest names to move to the club after they were awarded a place in the women's top flight two years ago.

"Kate's level of professionalism is unmatched," head coach barney Maddison told the club website.

"She leads by her performances and the team naturally just looks to her as a leader.

"She has a wealth of experience, and her work with our youth programme has been invaluable.

"We're delighted to see her continue to lead and perform at the highest level."

Zackary added: "We're finding our momentum as a team and club, and I want to be a part of that process.

"Our team is filled with diversely talented players who have a desire to become a contender in the PWR and I can't wait to step back on the pitch with them."

Glasgow Warriors will create a little bit of history at Scotstoun on Saturday when they face Leicester Tigers in the Champions Cup - the Scottish side's first-ever home knockout tie in the competition.

As special as that will be, they will be aiming for bigger landmark moments this season - namely going further in this competition than they ever have before.

Twice Glasgow have reached the quarter-finals - in 2017 under Gregor Townsend and 2019 under Dave Rennie - but on both occasions were on the receiving end of a hiding at the hands of Saracens.

Having won the URC last season, there is a feeling Franco Smith's side may just be ready to go deeper into Europe's premier club competition than ever before.

Scotland's record points scorer, Chris Paterson, told the BBC's Scotland Rugby Podcast: "I think it's a want, a goal and aim of the players as much as it is the fans.

"It's not just in your hands whether you break through that glass ceiling. At that level, you need an element of luck in terms of the opposition, of injuries, and Glasgow are still missing some key players.

"But they've got the components to win every game they play.

"Franco Smith was asked: 'Do you feel you're in a better place than you were last year?' And he said, 'definitely', which I would agree with."

At the start of the 2024-25 NHL season, some predicted that the Detroit Red Wings -- with one of the proudest histories among the league's 32 clubs -- would make their triumphant return to the postseason field.

Although they remain mathematically in the race with less than two weeks to go, their chances are getting slimmer by the day.

Friday night, they'll host the Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+), with a chance to inch their way closer to the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, who have been ping-ponging the final wild-card spot back and forth in recent days.

As the games get underway, the Red Wings' 75 points are six behind both the Canadiens, and their 26 regulation wins are tied with Montreal.

Things only get harder for Dylan Larkin & Co. after the game against the Canes. Their remaining schedule features only games against teams currently in playoff position: the Florida Panthers twice, Canadiens, Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs. Perhaps the teams that have clinched a playoff berth will take a proverbial foot off the gas pedal, but this is not exactly an ideal closing schedule for a team on the outside looking in on the playoffs.

But if the Red Wings are going to make a run, a win on Friday will go a long way (at least emotionally) to rally support. Can they do it?

With the regular season ending April 17, we'll help you track it all with the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we'll provide details on all the playoff races, along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.

Note: Playoff chances are via Stathletes.

Jump ahead:
Current playoff matchups
Today's schedule
Yesterday's scores
Expanded standings
Race for No. 1 pick

Current playoff matchups

Eastern Conference

A1 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. WC1 Ottawa Senators
A2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. A3 Florida Panthers
M1 Washington Capitals vs. WC2 Montreal Canadiens
M2 Carolina Hurricanes vs. M3 New Jersey Devils

Western Conference

C1 Winnipeg Jets vs. WC2 St. Louis Blues
C2 Dallas Stars vs. C3 Colorado Avalanche
P1 Vegas Golden Knights vs. WC1 Minnesota Wild
P2 Los Angeles Kings vs. P3 Edmonton Oilers

Friday's games

Note: All times ET. All games not on TNT or NHL Network are available to stream on ESPN+ (local blackout restrictions apply).

Carolina Hurricanes at Detroit Red Wings, 7 p.m.
Chicago Blackhawks at Washington Capitals, 7 p.m. (ESPN+/Hulu/NHLN)
Minnesota Wild at New York Islanders, 7:30 p.m.

Thursday's scoreboard

Montreal Canadiens 4, Boston Bruins 1
Ottawa Senators 2, Tampa Bay Lightning 1
Colorado Avalanche 7, Columbus Blue Jackets 3
St. Louis Blues 5, Pittsburgh Penguins 4 (OT)
Dallas Stars 5, Nashville Predators 1
Los Angeles Kings 4, Utah Hockey Club 2
Calgary Flames 4, Anaheim Ducks 1
Winnipeg Jets 4, Vegas Golden Knights 0
Edmonton Oilers 3, San Jose Sharks 2

Expanded standings

Atlantic Division

x - Toronto Maple Leafs

Points: 96
Regulation wins: 38
Playoff position: A1
Games left: 7
Points pace: 105.0
Next game: vs. CBJ (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 100%
Tragic number: N/A

Tampa Bay Lightning

Points: 93
Regulation wins: 38
Playoff position: A2
Games left: 7
Points pace: 101.7
Next game: @ BUF (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Florida Panthers

Points: 92
Regulation wins: 35
Playoff position: A3
Games left: 7
Points pace: 100.6
Next game: @ OTT (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Ottawa Senators

Points: 86
Regulation wins: 31
Playoff position: WC1
Games left: 7
Points pace: 94.0
Next game: vs. FLA (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 98.5%
Tragic number: N/A

Montreal Canadiens

Points: 81
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: WC2
Games left: 7
Points pace: 88.6
Next game: vs. PHI (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 42.1%
Tragic number: N/A

Detroit Red Wings

Points: 75
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 8
Points pace: 83.1
Next game: vs. CAR (Friday)
Playoff chances: 2.7%
Tragic number: 11

Buffalo Sabres

Points: 70
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 8
Points pace: 77.6
Next game: vs. TB (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 0.1%
Tragic number: 6

Boston Bruins

Points: 69
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 6
Points pace: 74.4
Next game: vs. CAR (Saturday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 1

Metro Division

x - Washington Capitals

Points: 105
Regulation wins: 41
Playoff position: M1
Games left: 7
Points pace: 114.8
Next game: vs. CHI (Friday)
Playoff chances: 100%
Tragic number: N/A

x - Carolina Hurricanes

Points: 96
Regulation wins: 41
Playoff position: M2
Games left: 8
Points pace: 106.4
Next game: @ DET (Friday)
Playoff chances: 100%
Tragic number: N/A

New Jersey Devils

Points: 87
Regulation wins: 35
Playoff position: M3
Games left: 6
Points pace: 93.9
Next game: vs. NYR (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.7%
Tragic number: N/A

New York Rangers

Points: 79
Regulation wins: 32
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 7
Points pace: 86.4
Next game: @ NJ (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 26.8%
Tragic number: 13

Columbus Blue Jackets

Points: 77
Regulation wins: 24
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 8
Points pace: 85.3
Next game: @ TOR (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 27.4%
Tragic number: 13

New York Islanders

Points: 74
Regulation wins: 25
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 8
Points pace: 82.0
Next game: vs. MIN (Friday)
Playoff chances: 2.8%
Tragic number: 10

Pittsburgh Penguins

Points: 72
Regulation wins: 20
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 6
Points pace: 77.7
Next game: @ DAL (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 0.1%
Tragic number: 4

Philadelphia Flyers

Points: 71
Regulation wins: 20
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 6
Points pace: 76.6
Next game: @ MTL (Saturday)
Playoff chances: ~0%
Tragic number: 3

Central Division

x - Winnipeg Jets

Points: 108
Regulation wins: 41
Playoff position: C1
Games left: 6
Points pace: 116.5
Next game: @ UTA (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 100%
Tragic number: N/A

x - Dallas Stars

Points: 104
Regulation wins: 41
Playoff position: C2
Games left: 7
Points pace: 113.7
Next game: vs. PIT (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 100%
Tragic number: N/A

x - Colorado Avalanche

Points: 98
Regulation wins: 39
Playoff position: C3
Games left: 5
Points pace: 104.4
Next game: @ STL (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 100%
Tragic number: N/A

St. Louis Blues

Points: 91
Regulation wins: 30
Playoff position: WC1
Games left: 5
Points pace: 96.9
Next game: vs. COL (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 97.8%
Tragic number: N/A

Minnesota Wild

Points: 89
Regulation wins: 33
Playoff position: WC2
Games left: 6
Points pace: 96.0
Next game: @ NYI (Friday)
Playoff chances: 94.8%
Tragic number: N/A

Utah Hockey Club

Points: 80
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 6
Points pace: 86.3
Next game: vs. WPG (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 0.7%
Tragic number: 4

e - Nashville Predators

Points: 62
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 6
Points pace: 66.9
Next game: vs. MTL (Sunday)
Playoff chances: 0%
Tragic number: E

e - Chicago Blackhawks

Points: 52
Regulation wins: 18
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 7
Points pace: 56.9
Next game: @ WSH (Friday)
Playoff chances: 0%
Tragic number: E

Pacific Division

x - Vegas Golden Knights

Points: 98
Regulation wins: 42
Playoff position: P1
Games left: 7
Points pace: 107.2
Next game: @ CGY (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 100%
Tragic number: N/A

Los Angeles Kings

Points: 95
Regulation wins: 38
Playoff position: P3
Games left: 7
Points pace: 103.9
Next game: vs. EDM (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Edmonton Oilers

Points: 93
Regulation wins: 32
Playoff position: P2
Games left: 7
Points pace: 101.7
Next game: @ LA (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 99.9%
Tragic number: N/A

Calgary Flames

Points: 84
Regulation wins: 27
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 7
Points pace: 91.8
Next game: vs. VGK (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 5.9%
Tragic number: 10

Vancouver Canucks

Points: 81
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 7
Points pace: 88.6
Next game: vs. ANA (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 0.8%
Tragic number: 7

e - Anaheim Ducks

Points: 74
Regulation wins: 23
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 7
Points pace: 80.9
Next game: @ ANA (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 0%
Tragic number: E

e - Seattle Kraken

Points: 70
Regulation wins: 26
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 6
Points pace: 75.5
Next game: @ SJ (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 0%
Tragic number: E

e - San Jose Sharks

Points: 50
Regulation wins: 14
Playoff position: N/A
Games left: 7
Points pace: 54.7
Next game: vs. SEA (Saturday)
Playoff chances: 0%
Tragic number: E

Note: An "x" means that the team has clinched a playoff berth. An "e" means that the team has been eliminated from playoff contention.

Race for the No. 1 pick

The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process are here. Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL's Erie Otters, is No. 1 on the draft board.

1. San Jose Sharks

Points: 50
Regulation wins: 14

2. Chicago Blackhawks

Points: 52
Regulation wins: 18

3. Nashville Predators

Points: 62
Regulation wins: 23

4. Boston Bruins

Points: 69
Regulation wins: 23

5. Seattle Kraken

Points: 70
Regulation wins: 26

6. Buffalo Sabres

Points: 70
Regulation wins: 26

7. Philadelphia Flyers

Points: 71
Regulation wins: 20

8. Pittsburgh Penguins

Points: 72
Regulation wins: 20

9. Anaheim Ducks

Points: 74
Regulation wins: 23

10. New York Islanders

Points: 74
Regulation wins: 25

11. Detroit Red Wings

Points: 75
Regulation wins: 26

12. Columbus Blue Jackets

Points: 77
Regulation wins: 24

13. New York Rangers

Points: 79
Regulation wins: 32

14. Utah Hockey Club

Points: 80
Regulation wins: 26

15. Vancouver Canucks

Points: 81
Regulation wins: 26

16. Calgary Flames

Points: 84
Regulation wins: 27

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a familiar position at the beginning of April. For the ninth straight season, the Leafs will play in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The organization and their fans hope that this is where the familiarity ends; can playoff disappointments of the last decade be a thing of the past?

If the Leafs win the Atlantic Division, they will likely play the Ottawa Senators in the first round. The Senators are good, but they are not on the same level as the Tampa Bay Lightning or Florida Panthers, and the Leafs would be the favorite. Anything but a series win would be considered a major disappointment, and should result in significant changes this offseason.

Without winning at least one or two rounds, the Leafs' core group of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly will have burned through three coaches and three different systems without any playoff success.

Will head coach Craig Berube's system force them to the inside where playoff goals are generally scored, or will the scoring woes -- and playoff failures -- continue?

The changes on offense -- and in goal

Under previous coach Sheldon Keefe, the Leafs were one of the league's best regular season teams. Keefe identified why the Leafs failed in the playoffs, but was unable to convince the top players to buy in to changing. After taking over this season, has Berube fundamentally changed how the Leafs play? To the eye, their play style features more forechecking, cycle play and net-front focus than the off-the-rush, skill and speed that used to be a hallmark of the team.

The Leafs previously struggled to score in the playoffs because their offensive play style was not conducive to the type of goals scored in the playoffs. The fancy passing and highlight-reel goals are few and far between in the playoffs. It is about getting inside, creating traffic at the net front and in hockey terms, "getting the greasy/garbage goals."

The differences between Keefe and Berube's systems are stark. The Leafs are not controlling the play the way they did under Keefe, and they're playing in more low-scoring games. In Keefe's final season, 2023-24, Leafs games averaged 6.81 goals for both teams, compared to 6.19 under Berube. Last season, Toronto ranked second in goals per game (3.63) and second in scoring chances per game (18.09). They currently rank ninth in goals per game (3.26) while ranking 22nd (14.55) in scoring chances, per Stathletes.

Berube has the Leafs playing a more direct offensive style, with focuses on forechecking, puck pursuit and puck recovery. It functions as a dump-and-chase style of play, a significant departure from Keefe's possession style. Toronto ranked top 10 in possession time under Keefe, and ranks 20th under Berube. Most notable is the change in how Toronto is scoring their goals. Their rush chances have dropped dramatically, from second in the NHL last season (17.5 per game) to 15th this season (14.5).

The interesting exception is that Toronto is one of four teams with more than 90 breakaways, and Nylander (unsurprisingly) leads the NHL with 18 goals off the rush. Last season, the Leafs scored 7.7% of their goals directly off a rebound, dead last in the NHL. Under Berube, they are scoring 10% of their goals off rebounds, according to Stathletes.

The defensive side is where major changes in results have occurred. In Keefe's final season, the Leafs surrendered 3.18 goals per game, with an .893 save percentage for their goaltenders. The Leafs averaged 32.5 shots per game, while surrendering 29.8. Under Berube, the Leafs average 28.2 shots per game and surrender 29.3. The difference is Toronto is allowing 7% fewer scoring chances per game under Berube because of a conscious commitment to defense. Berube is opposed to the track meet style of play, and while Nylander gets his nightly breakaway, the ping pong rush chances do not occur with the same regularity. Last season, Toronto was +2.11 in scoring chances per game, compared to -0.34 this season.

The Leafs are playing in tighter games and creating more favorable situations for their goaltenders. Anthony Stolarz ranks fourth in goals saved above expected (13.26), per Stathletes. Toronto has the NHL's best winning percentage in one-goal games because they are more comfortable defending in those situations. This is obviously critical come in the playoffs.

A defense built differently

Berube's system is most successful with defensemen who play a physical, defensive style. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving's remodel of the blue line has fit well with Berube's desired style. He inherited Jake McCabe, and added Chris Tanev, Brandon Carlo, Simon Benoit and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to a blue line led by Morgan Rielly.

Berub's team in St. Louis featured Colton Parayko, Jay Bouwmeester, Joel Edmundson, Robert Bortuzzo, and Carl Gunnarsson. There are obvious similarities between those defensemen and the Leafs' group. They are big, physical shot blockers. All are defensively oriented. The Leafs don't get much from the blue line in the way of offensive production, and it certainly feels like they're more defensively stable.

It is no secret that the playoffs are a different style of game that caters towards toughness rather than skill. Far more physicality and stick infractions go uncalled in the postseason. The Leafs have struggled to draw penalties and have not been very good about dishing out the physicality, either. The defensemen the Leafs have acquired have proven track records of ramping up the truculence in the playoffs, and will join in on the physical side of the game. Treliving and Berube had a clear vision, and the play style matches the roster -- with one exception.

Perhaps the biggest similarity between Berube's teams in St. Louis and Toronto is the (relative) lack of production for Morgan Rielly and Vince Dunn. The lone offensive defenseman in St. Louis didn't thrive until he joined the Seattle Kraken. Rielly's decrease in production has been a significant topic of discussion, but he is the blueliner most negatively impacted by Berube's play style. He thrives in an offensive system that relies on activation and rush offense, as Dunn does in Seattle and Rielly did under Keefe.

Dunn averaged fewer than 18 minutes per game under Berube. He's averaged more than 22 minutes per game in Seattle, and his offensive production has nearly doubled from 102 points in 267 games with the Blues to 180 points in 268 games with the Kraken. Compare that to Rielly, who has seen his production dip from 202 points in 274 games under Keefe (0.74 points per game) to 35 points in 74 games under Berube (0.47). While Rielly has not been up to his usual standard, there is evidence that Berube's system suppresses offensive defensemen.

Will it translate to playoff success?

The one thing that has not and cannot be accounted for: the curse. There is not a statistic nor logical explanation for the playoff curse that seems to haunt the Leafs, the way it haunted the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs before they broke through. The Leafs have playoff demons.

Many observers have wondered if this core has what it takes to climb the mountain. Berube's style seems to be more conducive to playoff success. However, the recent playoff problem has not been defensive for the Leafs: It is that their scoring has dried up.

There is little opportunity for a track meet style in the playoffs with how closely teams check and the way games are officiated. The team's change in style of play under Berube has made Toronto more prepared for playoff hockey. Strong defensive play and offense driven by a tough forecheck that wears teams down is more translatable. That style makes teams uncomfortable because it is more grueling; players handle the puck differently if they think someone is going to doggedly pressure and physically engage them along the boards.

If the Leafs are going to have success in the playoffs, three things need to happen:

• The goaltending needs to be good

• They must continue to play well defensively

• Their best offensive players must create more scoring chances in dangerous areas of the ice

The Leafs have built habits of forechecking, puck pursuit and commitment to defense over the course of the season. It is a matter of executing on those principles. Stopping on pucks, making the extra effort to clear the puck in a tough situation, winning the extra net-front battle to score the ugly goal, finishing the forecheck to wear down their opponent. There is no track meet to be had; breakaways and odd-man rushes will be few and far between.

All those habits have been engrained in the players since Berube took over, it is up to the players to prove they can get the job done when the games matter most.

Liverpool defender Andy Robertson has insisted "no one knows" where teammate Trent Alexander-Arnold's future lies amid continued links to Real Madrid.

Alexander-Arnold is out of contract at the end of the season and a source has told ESPN that Madrid are confident of signing him on a free transfer this summer.

However, a Liverpool source told ESPN no deal has yet been finalised and Robertson has revealed the 26-year-old's full focus remains on working his way back from an ankle injury.

"Trent's head is not great because he's injured," Robertson said.

"He hates being injured, none of us like being injured but it hurts Trent a little bit more. That's all he is focused on.

"It is impossible for me to say we have not seen all the noise and everyone commenting on it. But for us our focus is for him to get back fit and healthy. Once he does that, what will happen, will happen. No one knows that yet. People can talk and speculate but for us we want Trent back very soon."

Liverpool restored their 12-point advantage at the top of the Premier League table with a 1-0 victory over Everton on Wednesday night. But Robertson believes Arne Slot's side still have plenty of work to do to secure the title.

"You guys talk about the 12 points but we talk about the next three points," he said.

"Every game becomes bigger for us. Every time we win three points, the gap becomes bigger for us.

"We have eight games left, every time we pick up three points, it brings us closer to where we want to be. But we are still a long way off that."

Ange Postecoglou has said he is "falling out of love with football" after admitting he made a mistake in celebrating Pape Matar Sarr's disallowed goal against Tottenham, but not because he risked a fan backlash.

Spurs lost 1-0 at Chelsea on Thursday but Sarr had a second-half strike ruled out for VAR. Postecoglou's decision to bring on Sarr for Lucas Bergvall was booed by some travelling Tottenham supporters who also briefly chanted "you don't know what you're doing" at the 59-year-old.

Postecoglou responded by cupping his ear in their direction when Sarr scored, only for the goal to be chalked off after a lengthy VAR check.

Spurs fell to their 16th league defeat of the season and Postecoglou appeared to hang back at full-time rather than engage with the away fans, hinting at a fractious relationship which places further pressure on his position.

However, at a news conference on Friday, Postecoglou chose to focus his attention on the impact VAR is having after there were 12 minutes of added time at the end of Thursday's game with Chelsea also having a goal ruled out as Moisés Caicedo's volley came after replays showed Levi Colwill was offside in the build-up.

"Maybe I was influenced by England and the old First Division," he said. "What I loved about it as opposed to other leagues was the frenetic pace of it. In English football, there was always something happening.

"I loved that and it has influenced me a lot in terms of the kind of football I like to watch. There are plenty of other leagues I could have watched. End-to-end stuff, not a lot of teams trying to hold onto wins. It was just everyone going for it. It was the speed and tempo that I loved.

"I've tried to design a gameplan that has tempo and energy because I feel if you want people in there for an hour and a half of entertainment and engagement, you want them off their seats. There was 12 minutes of extra time last night. VAR was not brough in last month. It has been here for a long time and it is still taking 12 minutes.

"Everyone says 'they came to the right to decision', well, yeah. That's what people want then. Let's continue. I don't like it. I am falling out of love with the game because I love celebrating goals. Last night I did and I'm paying a massive price for it. I'll make sure I don't do it again but I reckon that's kind of sad.

"I am the lone voice. I don't hear anyone else saying it. That's why I am sat here and saying maybe I am disconnected. I don't think anyone else cares. We're just so accepting. Maybe I come from a different generation where we used to rail against anyone who tried to change the fundamentals of our life.

"It is sad for me because I am a lone voice but I don't think it is sad for the game because I guess people want that. I've got to accept it. When I do finally retire, I will probably watch less football and try and find another hobby."

Asked again about his ear-cupping celebration, which stands as the lates in a series of incidents in which fans have voiced their anger, Postecoglou said: "I get that seems to be the main talking point out of last night.

"People tend to focus on the internals of Tottenham rather than the externals. I made a mistake last night in that I celebrated a goal.

"Since VAR came in here, there were four or five incidents where we were standing around in Scotland and I thought I am not really going to celebrate goals. There's no point because you've got to wait.

"Last night, I just felt we needed something, cracking goal from Pape [Matar Sarr], I heard the supporters weren't happy with my decision, which is fine and my response was to celebrate, get them to make some noise and get behind the team. I felt it was a real momentum shifter, that moment.

"My mistake was celebrating a goal, VAR defeated me again. I won't be doing that again."

Sources have told ESPN that Postecoglou is at risk of losing his job if Spurs exit the Europa League against Eintracht Frankfurt -- their two-legged quarterfinal clash begins next Thursday -- and he added: "I've been fighting my whole career. I'll continue to fight until I'm told to stop by someone. I still believe we've got a massive opportunity for ourselves this year and I'm not going to let that slip away whether that's from external or internal pressure. I'm focused on that.

"I feel like people want me to say something that will somehow change the mood of the fans. I've just never done that. I've never felt that's my role. My role is to produce teams and get the fanbase behind what we're doing.

"It is not unusual they are frustrated and angry and the moment but at the same time if anyone looked at that game and thought they weren't trying, that they had resigned themselves to their fate, I'm sorry, they are not watching the right game.

"The players are fighting tooth and nail to try and address our issues within a real difficult season and try to take this massive opportunity that's ahead of us."