The Toronto Maple Leafs are on fire.
Recently they took two games from the Jets – games in which the Toronto Maple Leafs dominated, for the most part – and have now picked up points in each of their last six games. They won five of them.
Tonight they will take on the Calgary Flames for the first of a back-to-back that concludes tomorrow.
The Leafs are 24-10-3 and in first place in the North Division. A win tonight would put them one point back of Tampa Bay in the President’s Trophy race.
The Flames are 16-19-3 and more or less just playing out the string here. They are 16 points behind Toronto but just five points up on the Senators, who, it goes without saying have a very bright future.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Calgary
The Leafs are currently 4 and 2 vs Calgary this season. After this series they will play just once more, meaning that as long as the Leafs take one of the next two games, they will be assured a winning record against the Flames this season.
Tonight’s goalie will be Jack Campbell , at least with the Leafs having been off last night, one assumes it will be. It isn’t confirmed at this time. Since they play tomorrow and will have to start Hutchinson in one of the games, it could be tonight in order to give Campbell, whose struggled to stay healthy, an extra day between games. It’s what i’d do anyways.
The Leafs paly four times in the next seven days, including tonight. That’s two vs Calgary, one vs the Senators and one against Montreal.
In tonight’s game, look for a strong performance from William Nylander, John Tavares and Alex Galchenyuk who had their worst game as a unit on Friday. In six of the seven games since Galchenyuk has been on the team, that line has been excellent.
They may not have scored a bunch, as of yet, but if they keep putting up the kinds of numbers they have been putting up, scoring is inevitable. And speaking of inevitable, the Toronto Maple Leafs power play is way overdue.
I think they’ve gone 124 straight chances without a goal, so the Flames are going to have to be very careful tonight because a correction in the positive direction is bound to occur at anytime.
My prediction for tonight is that the Leafs go 4 for 5 on the power play and put eight goals up on the hapless Flames. Keep in mind these predictions are never right! Enjoy the game.