Toronto Maple Leafs: Who Will be the King of the North

The Toronto Maple Leafs currently sit fourth in the North division in points % behind Winnipeg, Calgary, and Montreal.

This afternoon the Toronto Maple Leafs face off against the Calgary Flames who they will likely be in close competition with for the top of the division this season.

The Flames have only played 3 games and are coming off a 5-day break which will be a story to follow going into this game.

While the Leafs are coming off a win against the Oilers, they have been ridden with injuries early on in the year with Matthews likely out again, Joe Thornton out at least 4 weeks with a rib fracture, and Nick Robertson out long term with a knee injury.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Flames

The Leafs have been one of the worst teams at generating offense at 5v5, ranking eight-last in total goals per minute so far,  and if Matthews is out again, we should expect another slow place game this afternoon. The Flames are also one of the teams that play a slower style of hockey, to begin with.

The Leafs so far this season have the 4th best powerplay, 16th best penalty kill, and sit with a mediocre 49.62xGF% at 5v5.  Then again, they are third in CF% ,  fifth in scoring-chances per minute, and 21st in shooting percentage,  so some 5v5 scoring is eventually going to occur.

Surprisingly, the Leafs have been very good at limiting chances against this season, and I attribute a lot of that to the newest addition and former flame, TJ Brodie. This will be the first game that TJ Brodie will face off against his former team of 10 seasons, so there will certainly be plenty of emotion going into this game for Brodie. (stats naturalstattrick.com).

It is unknown who will be in the Leafs lineup tonight with injuries and players being moved in and out of the lineup constantly. The Leafs also have the option of playing 7 defensemen again which they have done a couple of times already. Travis Boyd could also make his debut as he was called up to the Leafs’ main roster for the Western road trip the Leafs are currently on.

One of the Flames’ newest additions Jacob Markstrom has been stellar in the net so far this season. The Flames SV% currently sits third-best in the league going into this game.

The Flames defensemen have also been solid, Hanifin has looked better than ever, Tanev has done a good job doing what he does best, and Andersson and Giordano are rock-solid defenders.

A big storyline in Calgary is Johnny Gaudreau getting his confidence back to where it was prior to last season. After a down season last year, Gaudreau is primed for a bounce back season and it already looks like he is getting things done. He has been a true offensive threat this season and has 4 points in 3 games so far this season. The Toronto Maple Leafs will have to keep a close eye on him to contain him.

Overall the Flames have been among the top teams in terms of the powerplay, penalty kill, and at 5v5. The Flames have the 6th best powerplay and the 4th best penalty kill all while rocking a 55.16xGF% at 5v5. So the Flames are certainly not a pushover.

The Flames will be a major test for the Leafs in every situation and this will be an important game since both teams will likely be competing for the top in the division.

If the Leafs could somehow string together some consistency at 5v5 and start generating more offense while continuing the strong defensive play at 5v5, that would be marvelous.