The Toronto Maple Leafs face their toughest test of the season Thursday, taking on the defending Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights on the road to begin a three-game trip.
Thursday is a crucial opportunity to get the Leafs on the right track and build off their stellar comeback win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. To do it, they will need certain players to step up, and William Nylander and John Tavares are expected to be difference makers.
William Nylander and John Tavares are the Leafs' X-factors vs. Golden Knights
There has been some discussion about moving the pair to separate lines and putting Nylander with Auston Matthews on the top line, but either way, both should have big nights given their extensive track records in this matchup.
Nylander, 30, has developed into an 80-point player who has flirted with 100, and he has made the Golden Knights pay over his career with five goals and nine assists for 14 points in 14 games against Vegas. That includes a recent run in which the Swedish star has points in eight of his last nine matchups against the Golden Knights, totaling 11 points over that stretch.
Tavares, 36, has been elite in this matchup as well. Still a 70-plus point player in recent years, he has six goals and nine assists for 15 points in 16 career games against Vegas. Like Nylander, he is on a strong recent run, with points in four straight games against the Golden Knights and two goals and four assists for six points over that span.
Nylander and Tavares enter the contest with six and three points this season, respectively, and both hope to keep their hot streaks against Vegas alive and lift Toronto to a massive win.
Toronto controlled this series early, winning six of the first eight all-time meetings. However, Vegas has flipped the script as of late, taking six of the last eight, including three straight wins over Toronto entering Thursday.
The Maple Leafs have been inconsistent to start the year, alternating wins and losses through their first four games to sit at 2-2-0. The Golden Knights, by contrast, have rarely stumbled with a 3-1-0 record. Their three wins have come against teams that finished near the bottom of the standings last season, but they have taken care of business when they needed to, with their lone blemish a narrow 4-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
Toronto hasn't beaten Vegas since November 2024, and with Nylander and Tavares leading the way, the Leafs hope to finally put that drought to rest.
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