The Maple Leafs are hoping to end their three-game losing slide by extending their winning streak over the Jets to six games, while the Jets are looking to keep their dream start rolling with a ninth straight win tonight in Winnipeg (7:30 p.m. EST, Amazon Prime).
The Leafs have won just four of nine games so far, and the Jets have won eight of eight, but they’ve both outscored the opposition by three goals at five-on-five. The special teams have been the major difference between the two teams, and the gap is vast so far.
The Jets, running two balanced units that have been equally as productive, are a league-leading 10 for 23 on the power play (43.5%) as well as 14 for 16 on the PK with one shorthanded goal for (87.5% with a -1 goal difference). The Leafs are a respectable 83.8% on the PK, but they’re taking so many penalties so far (36) that they’ve still conceded six goals on the PK in nine games, and their power play is a dismal 3 for 30 (10%). That leaves the Jets at +9 net on special teams, and the Leafs at -3, a massive 12-goal swing over a small sample of games.
In that vein, the Leafs are mixing up their power play units for tonight’s game, swapping Matthew Knies and Max Pacioretty onto Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews’ unit alongside Morgan Rielly. Knies, with four goals in nine games, has been the team’s most effective net-front presence early in the season, and the Leafs are hoping his size, strength, and finishing in front of the net, as well as Max Pacioretty’s size, experience, and shot threat, can help revitalize Matthews’ unit.
William Nylander will join Max Domi, John Tavares, Bobby McMann, and OEL on the other unit, as it appears Marc Savard and Craig Berube are going to split the time and create some internal competition in search of some desperately needed answers on the man advantage.
#Leafs power play:
Knies
Marner – Pacioretty – Matthews
RiellyTavares
Domi – McMann – Nylander
OEL@TSN_Edge— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNWpg) October 28, 2024
In other lineup news, Nick Robertson, with one goal/point in nine games (which came in garbage time in the blowout loss to Columbus), will sit out as a healthy scratch as Pontus Holmberg re-enters the lineup. Berube is returning to the familiar Matthews-Marner / Tavares-Nylander forward pairings in the top six, with Pacioretty joining Tavares’ wing and McMann shifting down with Domi and Pontus Holmberg.
The Jets run a balanced top-nine forward group, with a third line (Nino Nederreiter – Adam Lowry – Mason Appleton) that has been the best “third line” in the league, outscoring the opposition 7-1 at five-on-five through nine games. The Jets’ fourth line of Morgan Barron – Rasmus Kupari – Alex Iaffalo sits at 1-1 in 5v5 goals but has controlled north of 65% of the scoring chances and expected goals. The Leafs will need their loaded-up top two lines to take care of business in their matchups and their depth lines to hold their own against stiff competition tonight.
Game Day Quotes
Craig Berube on mixing up the power-play units:
We’ve been thinking about it a little bit, and we’re just going to do it tonight.
It’s all about results, for the most part, and we’re not getting them. We’ve got to try something different and a little bit more direct. This should make it a little bit more direct on the power play.
It’s about getting more action at the net. We need to get more action at the net — good net front, strong guys at the net who can win puck battles around there, and things like that. That’s what we’re looking for with these units.
Berube on helping William Nylander get back on track after three games without a point:
We’re talking to him for sure and trying to find something that’s going to work with him. If he doesn’t get the puck enough, it’s hard. He’s a guy that needs the puck in his hands. We’ve got to try to find a way to get the puck into his hands a little bit more in areas where he can expose the opposition.
That’s part of the coaching end with Willy. It’s just communicating with him, what he’s seeing, and trying to help him.
Berube on re-uniting Nylander with John Tavares:
They’ve been successful (together) in the past. With Pacioretty there, it’s a big winger who can score. We’re trying to find a little bit more scoring in some other lines.
Berube on making Nick Robertson a healthy scratch:
He’s been fine. I think Nicky has worked extremely hard. He obviously hasn’t had much puck luck, just missing shots and things like that, but he’s done a lot of good things. With Winnipeg tonight, it’s a pretty big team. You wanted some size in the lineup.
Jets head coach Scott Arniel on his team’s ability to find ways to win all eight games so far:
Everybody is still in the race. At this time of year, everyone still thinks they are in the playoffs. You are not getting easy games. You have to go take it from teams. All of these games have been really competitive.
I like the fact that whether it is the first shift or the last shift, we are going as hard as we possibly need to go and sticking by how we need to play.
We have a style, a system, and standards we need to stick to. It has more to do with us playing our game on a consistent basis.
London native Dylan DeMelo on the extra juice for games against Toronto:
It was probably more special when I first came into the league, being from London close by. I know a whole lot of Leafs fans back home. It has a little extra feel to it. You know everyone is going to be watching back home, but it was moreso when I was first playing in the league.
I will say it is always fun playing these guys. They travel well with their fans. It is always a good building with our fans. It is going to be a good one tonight.
DeMelo on the Jets’ five straight losses to Toronto:
The last few times we have played these guys, we have gotten away from our game. We got into a track meet. That is not our game.
We know they have a different philosophy with Berube, and they’te trying to play a different way, but at the end of the day, it is all about us and how we play. We have a good thing going right now. We want to keep it going.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies — #34 Auston Matthews — #16 Mitch Marner
#67 Max Pacioretty — #91 John Tavares — #88 William Nylander
#74 Bobby McMann — #11 Max Domi — #29 Pontus Holmberg
#18 Steven Lorentz — #64 David Kampf — #75 Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
#44 Morgan Rielly — #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
#22 Jake McCabe — #8 Chris Tanev
#2 Simon Benoit — #25 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
#41 Anthony Stolarz
#60 Joseph Woll
Extras: Philippe Myers, Timothy Liljegren, Nick Robertson
Injured (LTIR): Calle Jarnkrok, Jani Hakanpaa, Connor Dewar, Dakota Mermis
Winnipeg Jets Projected Lines
Forwards
#81 Kyle Connor — #55 Mark Scheifele — #13 Gabriel Vilardi
#91 Cole Perfetti — #7 Vladislav Namestnikov — #27 Nikolaj Ehlers
#62 Nino Nederreiter — #17 Adam Lowry — #22 Mason Appleton
#36 Morgan Barron — #15 Rasmus Kupari — #9 Alex Iaffalo
Defensemen
#44 Josh Morrissey — #2 Dylan DeMelo
#54 Dylan Samberg — #4 Neal Pionk
#64 Logan Stanley — #6 Colin Miller
Goaltenders
#37 Connor Hellebuyck
#1 Eric Comrie
