After a 4-2 defeat in Philadelphia, the Toronto Maple Leafs look for a bounce-back win versus the Minnesota Wild.
For a second straight game, Toronto went without Auston Matthews in their lineup. The 20-year-olds absence began to show against the Philadelphia Flyers. Throughout the entire game, Philadelphia would dominate 5v5 play. Toronto now needs to figure out how to muster a better offensive output with their 20-year-old center.
Much like Toronto, Minnesota couldn’t put together a consistent offensive attack against the Calgary Flames. From the opening face-off, Calgary took control of the game and didn’t let go. Nonetheless, even though they were awful 5v5, Minnesota manage to garner a point in a shootout loss.
In their second meeting of the season, Minnesota looks to split the season series. The first meeting went Toronto’s way in the 4-2 win. It was a game which played to their offensive strengths, and it’s a style that Minnesota cannot play. If they want to get two points, they’ll have to put on a blue-collar performance.
Injuries and the Return of an Old Friend
Though Matthews will miss Thursday's game, Wild will be without Devan Dubnyk. No. 1 goalie needs MRI for lower body injury. Ex-Marlie Alex Stalock likely to face Leafs.
— Lance Hornby 🇺🇦 (@sunhornby) December 13, 2017
Toronto will go without Matthews for a third consecutive game due to an upper-body injury; however, he won’t be the only one. Minnesota lost goaltender to a lower-body injury and will have former Toronto Marlie, Alex Stalock suit up against his former parent team. Yeah, the same Stalock that Toronto sent home after acquiring him from the San Jose Sharks.
A backup goaltender should cause the likes of Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and the rest of the offense to salivate. Over the past two games, Toronto has relied on goaltending to bail them out while their offense remains inconsistent. Going up against a backup goaltender is what Toronto can use to help kick-start their offense.
Minnesota won’t make it easy on Toronto as they are 12th in shots against (735) and second in scoring chances against (597). Their blue line will do all they can to make Stalock’s life in net easier. Although they defend well, Minnesota struggles to score as they’re at the bottom when it comes to shots for (659) and scoring chances for (590).
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If Toronto can crack their defense, they can cause havoc. Their offensive attack should overwhelm Minnesota and lead to a victory seeing that they lack the offensive firepower. Nonetheless, over the last three games, Toronto continues to let teams hang around. Even without Matthews, they have enough offensive power to get past Minnesota as they try and go into Detroit on a winning note.