The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Nashville Predators and the Chicago Blackhawks this week - but big deal, anyone can do that. Those teams are terrible. And, what's worse, while the Leafs did win, they didn't exactly destroy their opponents in those games.
Tonight, the Toronto Maple Leafs will play the rare Friday Night Leafs Game, and they will do so against the Washington Capitals.
The same Washington Capitals who currently lead the Eastern Conference.
The Capitals, as nice as their run has been, are not real contenders. They are an OK team but they are 10th in the NHL in Expected Goals while being second in PDO (measures luck). Their roster is also lacking compared to even the Leafs, whose own roster is lacking compared to teams who have an elite number-one defenseman on their roster.
Contender vs Pretender: Toronto Maple Leafs vs Washington Capitals
The Leafs recently got Auston Matthews back and he instantly had a two point game, then he scored a goal, then he scored two goals to give him three goals and five points in three games. That's above the level of production the Leafs should expect from him, so the time off really seemed to help him.
While Matthews was gone, Mitch Marner scored at least two points in all but two games (one scoreless, one with an assist). He had three points in a single period last game, and while he looked great without Matththews, and while a team should probably not play both it's franchise players on the same line, they do look incredible together.
Unfortunately, based on the lines the Leafs used at pracitce, according to Mark Masters, it looks like the coach migh pair Marner and Matthews back on the same line. This is stupid. Eveyrone knows that, last game aside, Mitch plays his best hockey when he's not constantly feeling the need to feed Matthews.
Also, Ryan Reaves is dressing again, as the Leafs love to shoot themselves in the foot and make winning as hard as possible.
Further bad news: It looks like Jake McCabe will miss tonight's game again, which means OEL on the top pairing and Philippe Myers with Morgan Rielly in what has to be the worst blue-line any team in the NHL will dress this year.
Even so, the Leafs are unbeatable lately so they'll likely still win. Washington will be without the injured Alex Ovechkin as well.