The Toronto Maple Leafs are set to host the 30th-placed Anaheim Ducks on this Thursday night tune-up, after a thrilling victory just a few nights ago.
The Maple Leafs are coming off a huge character victory over the New Jersey Devils, who are now coached by former Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe. Despite being outplayed for almost the entire game, Anthony Stolarz held the fort in net, stopping 38/39 shots, and Auston Matthews buried the overtime winner with a tremendous individual effort, giving the Leafs a 2-1 victory.
The Ducks are in town this Thursday evening, as the Toronto Maple Leafs look to add another W to their record and take back top spot in the division.
Here's how these two teams match up.
Maple Leafs vs Ducks Game Preview: Can Toronto Clip Anaheim's Wings?
Last Ten Games
The Leafs have had the Ducks number as of late, winning eight of the last ten matchups between the two teams. Their most recent matchup against one another came last February, where the Leafs had one of their best games of the entire season, winning 9-2, led by an Auston Matthews hat-trick.
The Ducks haven't beaten the Leafs since 2022, nor have they won in Toronto since late 2016. If there's a team the Leafs are comfortable playing, it's gotta be the Ducks
Head-to-Head Stats
All stats via thescore app.
In terms of major team stats, the Leafs outpace the Ducks in basically everything, including goals scored (2.37 vs 2.92), power play % (14.8% vs 19.3%), goals against (3.07 vs 2.57), and penalty kill (72.4% vs 83%).
The only major stat I could find that both teams are close to one another was team SV%, where the Leafs place 2nd in the league with a .920, and the Ducks rank tied for 5th with a strong .911.
Final Verdict
In short, this is a game the Leafs should win. The biggest concern is Ducks netminder Lukas Dostal, who has been one of the NHL's top goaltenders this season and has shown to be capable of stealing games, including almost singlehandedly taking a game from the Leafs last year, where he made 55 saves in a 2-1 OT loss in early January.
But lucky for the Leafs, they have two goalies of their own who can steal games, and Anthony Stolarz, who stole a win on Monday, is getting the start once again tonight.
I'll give the Leafs a 4-1 victory in tonight's event, but anything is possible with a hot goalie in net.