Game Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs vs LA Kings
By Tim Chiasson
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in California to face the defending Stanley Cup Champions tonight.
Since the Jonathan Bernier trade, the story between the Leafs and Kings is always centered around the Leafs star goaltender – today is no different.
With a potent Kings offense, Bernier will have to play another great game of hockey for the Leafs if they want to leave Los Angeles with two points in hand.
Kings head coach Darryl Sutter was asked about the last couple meetings with the Leafs and responded in typically hilarious Sutter-style.
Classic Sutter:
— Rich Hammond (@Rich_Hammond) January 11, 2015
Q: "What have the Leafs done in last couple meetings to be tough on you?"
A: "I haven't been in any of their meetings"
The Kings are currently battling to hang on to the final playoff spot in the Western Conference while the Leafs are trying to climb back into one in the East.
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Peter Horachek will have his hands full lining up across from the smart bench boss in LA, who does an excellent job of finding desirable matchups for his team.
The top line for Toronto has to produce – it’s as simple as that. The best players need to be the best players when you’re playing a team of such quality as the Kings.
Let’s take a look at the projected line combinations for the Leafs, the tale of the tape and the analytics report for the Kings vs Leafs matchup.
Next: Projected Lines