It is Toronto Maple Leafs game day, and the boys in blue will look to win their third straight to start the season. William Nylander and Auston Matthews have been buzzing in their first two games, with eight goals combined in six periods.
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Matthews is only the fifth player in NHL history to start the season with back-to-back hat tricks and the first to do it since Alex Ovechkin in 2017-18. Before that, Cy Denneny, Joe Malone, and Reg Noble all did it in 1917-18. If the Maple Leafs are going to be a powerhouse this season, they need their big boys rolling, and it appears they are starting the season off strong.
The Maple Leafs welcome phenom Connor Bedard to Toronto for the first time in his young career. He has had three good games thus far with a goal and two helpers, but he has yet to have that breakout game where he scores a handful of points. The Maple Leafs and their fans hope that doesn’t come at the hands of them and will be looking for every opportunity to shut down him and the Chicago Blackhawks.
Projected Lineups
Toronto Maple Leafs
Tyler Bertuzzi – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
Calle Jarnkrok – John Tavares – William Nylander
Matthew Knies – Fraser Minten – Max Domi
Noah Gregor – David Kampf – Ryan Reaves
Morgan Reilly – T.J. Brodie
Jake McCabe – John Klingberg
Mark Giordano – Timothy Liljegren
Joseph Woll – Ilya Samsonov
Chicago Blackhawks
Ryan Donato – Connor Bedard – Taylor Hall
Tyler Johnson – Lukas Reichel – Taylor Raddysh
Nick Foligno – Jason Dickinson – Corey Perry
Boris Katchouk – MacKenzie Entwistle – Andreas Athanasiou
Alex Vlasic – Seth Jones
Kevin Korchinski – Connor Murphy
Jarred Tinordi – Nikita Zaitsev
Petr Mrazek – Arvid Soderblom
3 Keys to the Game
1. Maple Leafs Need to Set the Physical Tone Early
This is something that many members of Leaf Nation never thought they would see again. In the last two games, the Maple Leafs have set the tone early in the game. Ryan Reaves has had a big hit and a fight in each of the first 10 minutes of both games. The result of this has been huge; it seems that the star players are playing “bigger” than last season because they know that they have teammates that will come to their defence.
If the Maple Leafs can get on the forecheck early and finish their hits, they will have the Blackhawks on their heels. This will allow Toronto to take control of the game and potentially get on the board early. If Reaves, Bertuzzi, and even Domi play the way they did in the first two games, the Maple Leafs could gain the reputation of being hard to play against, which could make it a fun season for their fan base.
2. Limit Turnovers
The Maple Leafs have yet to play mistake-free hockey, which, as a hockey fan myself, I know isn’t always possible. However, they need to tighten up when they have the puck. They have been lucky enough to be able to outscore their opponents like they are the 1980s Edmonton Oilers, but that won’t last forever. They will need to limit their turnovers on both sides of the puck and make smart plays in this game. The defence has been guilty of trying to feed what seems to be a breakout pass instead of making the smarter, high-percentage pass. Those turnovers have typically ended up in their net, so the faster they work on limiting their turnovers, the better. Especially against a young team like the Blackhawks, who will do everything in their power to capitalize on scoring chances off of giveaways and turnovers.
3. Play Defensively Sound Hockey
This seems to be easier said than done. After all, it is the NHL, which has the best players in the world. However, the Maple Leafs have been continuously ripped on in the media for their defence core and how it isn’t Stanley Cup calibre. It has been shown early on that there are big holes that high-powered offences should be able to pick apart. New defence coach and former Maple Leaf Mike Van Ryn has his work cut out for him. It is in games against teams like the Blackhawks early in the season that the Maple Leafs should be working on tightening things up.
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It should also be a game that the Maple Leafs win easily, and if they are ahead by a larger margin, it would be nice to see Van Ryn and head coach Sheldon Keefe experiment with other pairings in case they need to shake things up later on. Overall, they need to be responsible in their own end and cover their assignments. There have been a few times in the first two games that players were out of place in their zone, and it led to goals, so going back to basics and not trying to do too much could truly help the Maple Leafs in the long run.
Next Game Up
After this game against the Blackhawks, the Maple Leafs go on their first road trip of the season. They will head down to the Sunshine State to face off against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 19. The Panthers were the team that sent the Maple Leafs packing in the second round of the 2023 NHL Playoffs, so this game should have good intensity. However, before we worry too much about that game, let’s cheer on the boys as they look to start the season 3-0!
