Monday night was the seen-it-good version of the Maple Leafs defence.
We had a close-up of the other version on Saturday, in an ugly performance in Ottawa. That night they were impatient. Careless with the puck. Outsmarted by Erik Karlsson and friends, who sat back and drove Auston Matthews nuts.
The challenge two days later, against an L.A. team that sat atop the standings and hadn't yet lost in regulation, was to find a way to use their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses on a blueline that has plenty of both.
It was a struggle in the first period, but the Leafs' D found their stride through the second and third, controlling the play 57 per cent of the time at even strength.