The Toronto Maple Leafs will play the Ottawa Senators tonight at home.
The Toronto Maple Leafs look to be icing the exact same lineup that they did in their home opening. The Ottawa Senators will be icing a team made up of Michael Stone, Matt Duchene and a bunch of AHL players.
After trading their best two players over the summer for pathetic returns that should get their general manager fired, the Senators will have a hard time avoiding the NHL’s basement and sending Jack Hughes, this year’s top prospect, to the Colorado Avalanche.
As a Leafs fan, it’s easy to relate to the current state of the Senators. Interfering owner, lousy GM, top prospects going to other teams……it’s all eerily familiar to anyone who’s been a Leafs fan longer than the Brendan Shanahan era.
Tonight’s Game
The Senator’s lost their first game to the Blackhawks, while the Leafs won their game against the Canadiens. Somewhat ironically, the Senators probably deserved to win their game, while the Leafs certainly did not.
The opening night game against the Canadiens was a shaky one for the Leafs – they allowed their usual 35 shots, Ron Hainsey was pathetic, as was pretty much everyone not tamed Kadri, Tavares, Dermott or Andersen.
Sure, Matthews scored two goals, but he actually played one of the worst games of his career – getting absolutely caved in by Max Domi’s line at even-strength.
Tonight should see Matthews and the entire team play much better. The Senators are icing an absolutely brutal team that would be a better match for the Marlies.
As Toronto showed on Wednesday, they’ve got the shooting skill to win games where they don’t show up, but they shouldn’t make a habit of it. Obviously Matthews needs to be better, but the Leafs should also give him more support. The fact is, Marleau and Ennis are not first line wingers, and so any night where Matthews isn’t 100% on his game is going to be rough because he’s got no support.
The Senators represent an interesting test. The Habs are a bad team, and Ottawa is worse. If the Leafs allow 35 shots tonight, they’re going to have to ask themselves some tough questions.
The defense was brutal last year, and on Wednesday. The Leafs are icing five of the six defenders that led to them being the worst defensive team in hockey to make the Playoffs, and one of the five worst overall.
If they can’t handle Montreal and Ottawa, it’s not going to be pretty against Pittsburgh or Winnipeg.
Tonight can be viewed as a litmus test of sorts, and it’s going to be interesting to see what happens.