The Toronto Maple Leafs face the Vegas Golden Knights tonight in their hardest match-up of the season.
After defeating the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night, the Toronto Maple Leafs will try to stay hot against the Vegas Golden Knights.
This may feel like a disapointing start for the Leafs, as they’ve lost to the Montreal Canadiens and Arizona Coyotes, while Auston Matthews has only scored one goal, but they have a solid 4-2 record.
Offensively, the team has been led by it’s second-line, most specifically John Tavares, who looks like a new man. Tavares has always been a consistent scorer, but for whatever reason, he looks more motivated this year. With three goals and seven points, Tavares leads the Leafs in both categories to start the year.
The Golden Knights are also 4-2 to start the season, so it should be a tough test for the Leafs, however there has to be some motivation on the line for them. Toronto doesn’t play again until Thursday night in San Jose, so I’d expect the team to be fired up to play well, knowing that they’ll have a green-light in Vegas tonight.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Vegas Golden Knights
Both teams have similar records and a lot of fire-power at the front of their offense, but the Leafs should have the advantage, thanks to their goaltender.
In his first four starts as a member of the Leafs, Ilya Samsonov has a 4-0-0 record, .938 SV% and 1.73 GAA. Samsonov was given a huge opportunity when Matt Murray got injured and he’s taking advantage of that thus far.
This will be the best team that Samsonov has faced thus far, but based on his play the last two weeks, it should’t be a huge issue for him.
One of the big storylines of tonight’s game involves a former Leafs fan-favorite, as Phil Kessel looks to tie Keith Yandle for the NHL’s all-time ironman streak.
This will be Kessel’s 989th consecutive game and it couldn’t be more fitting coming against one of his former teams. Kessel has recieved a lot of flak over the years, but that streak is incredibly impressive, as he seemingly never misses a game.
Expect a somewhat high-scoring game tonight, but more likely, expect a big-game from Matthews. With only one goal in his first six games, he’s due for a breakout game and there’s nobody place to do it than Vegas.
Score prediction: Leafs win 5-3