Tonight’s game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators is not only a Hockey Night In Canada matchup but it is also a Next Gen Game. This means the team will likely be sporting their black alternate jerseys.
This is also the 70th game of the 2024-25 NHL campaign for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The playoffs are roughly a month away and the team is in a fierce three-way battle for first in the division. They head into this game currently tied with the division leading Florida Panthers, at 87 points through 69 games played. The Panthers hold the tie-breaker though with 35 regulation wins to the Leafs 34. The club will surely hope to tie that up tonight and take over the division lead.
The Panthers face-off against the Washington Capitals tonight which should prove to be a tough opponent. This gives the Leafs a perfect advantage to overtake them atop the Atlantic. Another interesting storyline with that game is Alex Ovechkin and his “The Gr8 Chase”. Ovechkin is now only seven goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record of 894.
Looking ahead, Toronto has a fairly soft schedule down the stretch (aside from two games against the Panthers and one against the Tampa Bay Lightning) with seven of their final 13 games against non-playoff teams, including the besement dwelling Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, and Philadelphia Flyers. The Predators would also count towards this as tonight’s matchup. The Panthers on the other hand face only six non-playoff teams in their final 13 games, and only one against a team at the bottom of the overall standings, the Sabres.
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Nashville Predators
This is a battle of two teams in completely opposite situations. The Maple Leafs (42-24-3) are riding a three-game win streak, while the Predators (25-35-8) are tumbling downhill on a four-game losing streak. The Leafs are battling for first place in their division and home ice advantage in the playoffs. The Predators are nearing the bottom of their division and frankly, near the bottom of the entire league.
Netminder Joseph Woll gets the call to suit up between the pipes for the blue and white. Down the stretch, Woll has proven to be the hot hand, winning four of his last five games. He has played two games against the Predators in his career, coming away with a victory in both with a .918 save percentage (hockey-reference.com).
On the other side of the ice, Juuse Saros gets the nod for the Preds. Despite having set a career high in losses already at 27 on the year and being well on pace to having his worse statistical season of his career, Saros is still an elite goaltender and should not be taken lightly. The Leafs will have to perform well to best the Finnish netminder.
As we enter the stretch run of the season, there are plenty of key storylines and players to watch for this game. One of which being the Leafs are 4/5 on the powerplay over their last three games, which could prove to be a challenge even for a Preds team ranking 8th in penalty-kill percentage.
John Tavares
On Thursday night against the New York Rangers, Tavares reached the 1100-point mark on his career with a three-point performance. He garnered praise from his fellow teammates with Jake McCabe calling him "the ultimate model of consistency". The Leafs alternate captain should look to continue his momentum heading into the post-season, as he has seemingly recovered from some slow scoring earlier this calendar year.
William Nylander
Five points in his last three games, Nylander also surpassed a career milestone of 600 points on Thursday. At 38 on the season, he is two goals off from hitting the 40-goal mark for the third straight season. He has already clinched the 30 goal mark for the fourth straight year and fifth time in his career.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Speaking of milestones, OEL enters tonight with a chance to reach the 500-point mark of his career. So far, he has 28 points in 68 games this year with the Leafs and despite some bumps has proven to be a solid puck-mover on the backend.
Scott Laughton/Brandon Carlo
Laughton has struggled since being acquired by the Leafs at the deadline, recently seeing a demotion to the fourth-line center spot. He has been held off the scoresheet in seven games, and has posted Ryan Reaves like advanced stats.. He is a player who will hope to turn things around heading into the postseason.
The player on the other side of the coin is defenceman Brandon Carlo who has fit right in on the top-pairing after his acquisition on deadline day. He has provided a very steadying defensively responsible presence, similar to the effect that fellow Leaf Chris Tanev provided.
Michael Bunting
Bunting faces off against the Maple Leafs for the first time as a Predator, having played the Blue and White four times over the past two years as a member of both the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins.
The next Maple Leafs game is on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers, and with three back-to-backs to close out the season, the next few weeks will be a very difficult road ahead, despite the competition.