Saturday night brings an all-Canadian matchup on Hockey Night in Canada with the Vancouver Canucks nearing the end of their road trip in Toronto as they face the Leafs.
Elias Pettersson made his return to the lineup on Friday night and led all Canucks forwards with 20:27 of ice time.
The Leafs are leading the Atlantic Division and sit second in the Eastern Conference with a 27-14-2 record. Toronto has won six of their last eight games and has allowed two or fewer goals in five of their last eight games.
Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies have been dynamite in the offensive zone over their last eight games. Marner has four goals and nine assists for 13 points while Knies has five goals and three assists for eight points. Auston Matthews joins Marner and Knies on the Leafs’ top line and though Matthews has only played four of their preview eight games, he still has three goals of his own through that stretch.
The Leafs are the only team in the league with a forward leading their team in average ice time per game. Marner averages 21:26 per game and the closest to him are Morgan Reilly (21:21) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (21:02).
The second period has the potential to bring fireworks as the Canucks are one of the best teams in the league on the road and the Leafs are one of the best on home ice in middle frames.
The Leafs are outscoring their opposition 31-16 on home ice in second periods while the Canucks have outscored their opposition 20-9 on the road in second periods.
Quick Hits on the Competition
- Toronto is 17-7-0 on home ice this season and Saturday’s game is the first game of a three-game homestand.
- Joseph Woll is the leading netminder with 20 starts this season. He has a 14-7-0 record with a .912% save percentage, a 2.58 goals-against average, and one shutout.
- The Leafs’ current backup goaltender is Dennis Hildeby. He has made four starts this season.
- Despite their star power, the Leafs rank in the bottom half of the NHL on the power play. They are scoring on 21.1% of their man-advantages this season and that ranks them 18th in the NHL.
- William Nylander and John Tavares lead the Leafs with seven power play goals apiece.
- Marner has 17 power play assists and 10 of those are primary assists.
- Tavares has been the best Leafs player in the faceoff circle this season; winning 57% of his draws.
- Scoring first is crucial for the Leafs on home ice. They are 11-1-0 when scoring first and 6-6-0 when the visiting team scores the first goal.
The Story: Pucks on Net
It’s one of the most common sayings in hockey and it is exactly what head coach Rick Tocchet wants to see from his group when they take to the ice against the Leafs.
“You’ve got to hit the net,” said Tocchet in his postgame media availability on Friday night. “That's the frustrating part. We had a lot of O-zone time but we're just missing opportunities. You guys look at [the] shot clock. I look at it like missed opportunities. Two-on-one, [and] we try to pass it. These are crucial things. You got to throw pucks to the net and hit the net with people going [to the net]. [I’m] a little frustrated with the overpassing or missing the net.”
The Leafs have the fourth-best save percentage at five-on-five this season and rank fifth in the league for blocked shots. Leafs’ defenceman Chris Tanev leads the league with 121 blocked shots, and the Leafs have five players with over 50 blocked shots this year.
Canucks’ Top Performers over the Last Five Games
J.T. Miller: 2g-3a-5p
Quinn Hughes: 0g-3a-3p
Conor Garland: 2g-0a-2p
Jake DeBrusk: 1g-1a-2p
Jonathan Lekkerimäki: 1g-1a-2p
Tyler Myers: 1g-1a-2p
When and Where to Watch
Saturday’s game is a 4:00 p.m. PT start, and you can watch it on Hockey Night in Canada or listen along to the radio call with Brendan Batchelor on Sportsnet 650 and the Sportsnet Radio Network.
