from Luke Fox of Sportsnet,

Jake McCabe was thinking about it Thursday in sunny Las Vegas, in the middle of back-to-back jacks, sometime between wins five and six of the best and most consistent stretch of Toronto Maple Leafs hockey all winter.

When did things click?

What allowed a group so often praised or ripped for its top heaviness to find a little balance and a lot of buy-in? To reel off a six-pack of convincing wins by a cumulative score of 34-14?

To fight through fatigue and stomp the Vegas Golden Knights 7-3 Thursday in their own bass-boosted barn and leap over the reigning Stanley Cup champions to enter the NHL's top 10 in points percentage (.636)?

McCabe pointed to Feb. 13's home date against the St. Louis Blues, the first game of Morgan Rielly's suspension, when core forwards Mitch Marner and John Tavares came down ill, and the supporting cast was suddenly called upon to read lines intended for the leads.

McCabe thought of Bobby McMann's hat trick that evening, but the effort and purpose spread well beyond the actions of one unlikely hero. It was all hands on deck.

"We played such a simple and north and heavy game. And fast. Got in on the forecheck. And we've kind of continued that here through this stretch," McCabe said inside T-Mobile Arena, after slapping his sixth goal of the season, a career best.

"Building an identity and building confidence within that structure has been really important for us, and it's paying dividends for us."

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Game highlights are below.