Are the Toronto Maples Leafs For Real this Season?

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the NHL's hottest teams at the moment and a rising star with futures bettors looking to wager early in the Stanley Cup.  The Leafs are off to an impressive 12-3-1 start in the 2021 NHL season.  Moreover, Toronto finds themselves in first place in the North Division with a 6 points lead and will look forward to very winnable games against the Ottawa Senators this week.

However, all the glitters might not be gold.  A closer look at the Maple Leafs and their stats reveals some worrisome cracks in the foundation:

Toronto Maple Leafs: Good Record, but Bad Stats Slightly Concerning:  

The thing is, the stats now say the Leafs are getting insanely lucky.  Their record in one-goal games is preposterous and their team stats are terrible.  Look, I enjoy winning and I hope it continues.  But, certain things need to be looked at.

For instance, the Leafs are 16th in the NHL in Corsi-For and their overall percentage of shot-attempts is below 50 percent.  They are 21st in shots-for percentage, 11th in scoring chance-for percentage, 17th in high-danger chances-for percentage, and are 50 percent in expected goals, ranking18th. (all stats naturalstattrick.com).

So the question is, how does a team that is statistically performing so terribly have such a great record?

We'll see if this is a mirage, or the promised land.  The longer the season goes, the more we're inclined to believe the Maple Leafs are finally for real.