Coming off a strong December in 2019, the Toronto Maple Leafs look to continue that in 2020 as they take on the Winnipeg Jets tonight at Bell MTS Place, for their first game in the new year as well as new decade.
The Toronto Maple Leafs finished off December strong after starting slow in the beginning of the regular season.
Their record in the month of December was 9-3-1 (19 PTS) as well collected a point in 8 straight games to end December.
Many Maple Leaf players had themselves a strong December and look to continue their streak in January which I’ll be going over soon.
Toronto Maple Leafs Visit Jets
Toronto Maple Leafs visit Winnipeg to take on the Jets tonight in Winnipeg for their first meeting this season.
Winnipeg started the season off very strong, maybe a little too strong as a lot of people were surprised with the start they had, knowing that defense was a main issue for them. The likes of Byfuglien, Trouba, Chariot, Myers were all dealt, signed to a new team or suffered an injury.
The Jets now have struggled just a bit as they are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games making their record 22-15-3 after starting the season with a strong record of 15-9-1.
This should be a good game , two teams with tons of offense and two goalies playing lights out this season in Connor Hellebuyck and Frederik Andersen. (Stats from hockey-reference.com).
The Toronto Maple Leafs are coming off a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild and are currently on a eight game point streak (7-0-1). In those eight games they have scored four or more goals every time, safe to say their offense has clicked dramatically since Keefe has taken over.
Their offense may not be an issue as of right now, but their defense is kind of questionable. Yes the Toronto Maple Leafs most night score themselves out of bad defensive games when they allow the other team to score a lot, but as seen in Minnesota in that 4-1 win they played great defensively in the first and third by being tight in the neutral zone, blocking shots, and collapsing in-front of their net.
If the Toronto Maple Leafs can play more games like that they will be just fine.
Players Look To Continue Hot Streak
There have been a number of Toronto Maple Leaf players playing amazing as of late, such as Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander and even Tyson Barrie!
Let’s start with Auston Matthews who has been on an absolute tear in the last couple of weeks, entering tonight’s game Matthews has (27G 21A 48 PTS) and has five points in his last two games.
Mitch Marner, it seems like he never missed time with injury as he is playing like the Mitch Marner from last season. In only 30 games due to injury Marner has (10G 27A 37 PTS) he has two assists in his last two games but recently had an enormous eight game point streak with 17 points in that stretch. He now has 19 points in his last 11 games.
John Tavares, he also missed some time due to injury but seems like he never did, in 34 games he has (16G 19A 35 PTS) and currently on a five game point streak (3G 7A 10 PTS) and as well named NHLs 3rd star of the week last week.
, has (17G 18A 35 PTS) and on pace to set a career high in goals and points. As well on a four game point streak (4G 4A 8 PTS)
Last but not least Tyson Barrie, it must feel good for him, the coach, the GM, and the team to get this guy going offensively. He started the year off slow but now in 41 games he has (4G 17A 21 PTS) and currently on a four game point streak putting up (1G 5A 6 PTS)
(Stats from thescore.com)
Glad to see all of these top end players generating at a high rate, and they look to continue that in Winnipeg and look to continue to give a complete team effort as well. You can catch the game at 8pm Eastern Time on TSN3 and TSN4.