Game Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs vs LA Kings
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
Projected Maple Leafs Line Combinations
Jan 7, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier (45) guards the net against the Washington Capitals at the Air Canada Centre. Washington defeated Toronto 6-2. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Winnik – Bozak – Kessel
van Riemsdrk – Kadri – Panik
Komarov – Santorelli – Clarkson
Booth – Smith – Brodie
Phaneuf – Franson
Rielly – Polak
Gardiner – Robidas
Bernier
Next: Tale of the Tape
Tale of the Tape
Dec 14, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Los Angeles Kings forward Anze Kopitar (11) carries the puck against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto defeated Los Angeles 4-3 in an overtime shot out. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Toronto
22-17-3 47 points (10th Eastern Conference)
PP: 20.7% (9th NHL)
PK: 82.0% (13th NHL)
G/GP: 3.19 (2nd NHL)
GA/GP: 3.07 (25th NHL)
Win Pct When Score First: .800 (4th NHL)
Los Angeles
19-13-10 48 points (8th Western Conference)
PP: 20.3% (11th NHL)
PK: 78.5% (25th NHL)
G/GP: 2.81 (11th NHL)
GA/GP: 2.52 (13th NHL)
Win Pct When Score First: .650 (19th NHL)
The Leafs have one of the best power plays in the league matching up against one of the worst penalty kill units – something they’ll need to take advantage of when given the opportunity.
The focus all game will be getting shots on Jonathan Quick. The Kings goalie can be hard to beat so the Leafs will need to capitalize on special teams offensively as well as keep the Kings power play off the board.
The Leafs still boast a .800 win percentage when scoring first – although that number has been on a slow decline – so getting the first goal is important, especially from a mental aspect to the game.
For the Kings it doesn’t really matter as much whether they score first – they’re only interested in scoring last.
Next: Analytics Report
Analytics Report
Jan 7, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach Steve Staios (left) and interim head coach Peter Horachek (center) and assistant coach Steve Spott (right) during the first period against the Washington Capitals at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
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Two teams on opposite poles of the advanced statistics spectrum.
The Kings control the puck – it’s that simple. They get the puck and get shot attempts on an extremely lopsided advantage over Toronto.
That’s not going to make things easy for the Leafs.
Los Angeles also spends the majority of their zone starts in the offensive zone compared to the defensive zone so the Leafs will have their work cut out for them against one of the best possession teams in the league.
The Leafs have been better since the Randy Carlyle firing but with improvements coming gradually it could be a tough night of possession for the Leafs.