The smoking-hot Chicago Blackhawks are in town to take on the suddenly-slumping Toronto Maple Leafs.
Back-to-back losses to the San Jose Sharks (7-0) and the Columbus Blue Jackets (2-1) are two forgettable games for the Leafs, who recently extended their losing streak to three. This is far from the ideal opponent to break out of a mini-slump against. The league champs are looking for their tenth win in a row and are ripping the league apart in surgical fashion.
Looking across the league at team stats, one doesn’t have to look far to be able to see Chicago at or near the top: second in wins, third in goals for, fourth ranked power play, 11th ranked penalty kill, 8th in shots for per game, 9th best Corsi For.
Where they do appear vulnerable to an extent right now is 5v5. Their goals for percentage at even strength is barely coming out even, with nearly as many goals against as goals for. Their shots for percentage is good for 12th, which is somewhat pedestrian for such a talented team. Their 5v5 shooting percentage is quite low — ranked 23rd in the league — which is either an indication of low skill (ya, right), having difficulty generating good-scoring chances systemically and getting inside (more likely), or just a lack of luck (most likely).
Toronto needs to stay disciplined, start better than last time out, and try to take the game over in the first ten minutes against a Blackhawks team playing its second game in 24 hours if they have any hope of winning this game.
“The key is having good players. Don’t ever kid yourself. Good players make the game a lot of fun. I saw some stuff last night that we don’t dare try. That’s what good players do; they create something out of nothing within the structure of the game and they beat the defensive structure.”
– Mike Babcock on watching Chicago play
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup
Shawn Matthias – Tyler Bozak – PA Parenteau
Michael Grabner – Nazem Kadri – Leo Komarov
Daniel Winnik – Peter Holland – Joffrey Lupul
Josh Leivo – Byron Froese – Brad Boyes
Jake Gardiner – Dion Phaneuf
Martin Marincin – Morgan Rielly
Matt Hunwick – Roman Polak
James Reimer
Jonathan Bernier
Injured: James van Riemsdyk (fractured foot), Nick Spaling (upper body), Stephane Robidas (upper body)
Scratched: Frank Corrado, Rich Clune
Chicago Blackhawks Projected Lineup
Andrew Shaw – Jonathan Toews – Marian Hossa
Artemi Panarin – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane
Andrew Desjardins – Phillip Danault – Teuvo Teravainen
Richard Panik – Dennis Rasmussen – Ryan Garbutt
Duncan Keith – Niklas Hjalmarsson
Michal Rozsival – Brent Seabrook
Trevor van Riemsdyk – Rob Scuderi
Scott Darling
Corey Crawford
Injured: Marcus Kruger (left wrist fracture), Erik Gustafsson (lower body)
Scratched: Bryan Bickell, Brandon Mashinter
Who’s hot courtesy of NHL.com: Toews has three goals and seven points in his past four games. … Shaw has five points (two goals, three assists) in three games. … Hossa has two goals and four points in three games. … Komarov has five goals and 15 points in the past 15 games. … Kadri has three goals and 11 points in 12 games.
