Monday has the potential to be a great sports day in Toronto as the Toronto Blue Jays will host Game 2 of the ALCS against the Seattle Mariners with a 5 PM EST start time. However, prior to that, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be skating against the Detroit Red Wings with a 2 PM start, which was moved up to avoid any conflict with the Blue Jays game.
This is a big game for the Maple Leafs as they try to bounce back from a disappointing performance on Saturday against the Red Wings. The Maple Leafs jumped out to a two-goal lead after one period, but the Red Wings responded with three straight in the second period.
It wasn't all lost as Max Domi was able to tie it up with a goal early in the third period before the Red Wings once again had three straight goals, including two empty net goals, to win 6-3. If the Maple Leafs want to send fans happy into the Blue Jays game, these are three players who have to bounce back from their performance on Saturday.
3 Toronto Maple Leafs that need to bounce back against the Detroit Red Wings
John Tavares
John Tavares opened the regular season on a high note with a two-point game against the Montreal Canadiens. However, in the game against the Red Wings, the veteran forward really struggled and had the worst On-Ice xGoals Against of any Maple Leafs player at 2.27.
Last season, Tavares had two goals through the first three games of the season. He is still searching for that first goal this season and if he can do it against Detroit, it will be a boost for this Maple Leafs team.
Auston Matthews
The Maple Leafs are ultimately going to need their best player to deliver, and that means that Auston Matthews is entering this game under pressure. He does already have one goal on the season, but it was an empty net goal in the first game of the season against the Canadiens.
In the game against the Red Wings, he certainly was more involved than in the first game of the season. Matthews had only one shot on goal and one high-danger chance against the Canadiens, but he had six shots on goal and three high-danger chances against Detroit, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The pressure will be on Matthews to not only set the tone early but keep the momentum going over the course of the game and convert some of those chances into goals.
Brandon Carlo
While there are some forwards that need to bounce back, the Maple Leafs' defense collectively needs to improve from their performance against Detroit. One of the players who can help lead that is Brandon Carlo who had the worst Corsi For % of the Maple Leafs defenseman at 27.91%, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The Maple Leafs traded for Carlo last season with the Boston Bruins in a move that saw them send a first-round pick to Boston as part of the trade package. Through 22 regular-season games, dating back to last year, he has only three points while averaging over 19 minutes of ice time.
They are going to need more from him as he is expected to be a big part of this defense this season.