Pluses, minuses for Maple Leafs, Blackhawks

Each Wednesday throughout the regular season, Kevin Weekes will be offering his pluses and minuses for the teams competing in the NBCSN Wednesday Night Rivalry game in his Weekes on the Web blog. Weekes also will assist fans with three must-watch elements of the game.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have lost five of their past six games and eight of 11. Though the Maple Leafs are in third place in the Atlantic Division, 11 points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings, they can't be happy with the way they've been playing.
Speaking of not being happy with the way they've been playing, the Chicago Blackhawks have lost three straight games by a combined score of 13-3, including two shutouts, and are in the unfamiliar position of last place in the Central Division. Chicago has made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in each of the past nine seasons.
Each team needs a win when the Maple Leafs (26-18-5) visit the Blackhawks (22-19-6) at United Center on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVA Sports, SN, NHL.TV).
Here's my breakdown of the game:

Maple Leafs

Pluses: Frederik Andersen has been great. He's made 41 starts, tied with Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers for the NHL lead. He's been so consistent and gives Toronto a chance to win every night. Andersen (23-14-4, 2.69 goals-against average, .920 save percentage, three shutouts) has been the No. 1 goalie the Maple Leafs lacked before they acquired him in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on June 20, 2016. He's shown how big of a role he can play.
Auston Matthews is healthy after missing time because of injuries. He's scored 21 goals in 39 games and is a huge part of Toronto's lineup. He is a very difficult player to match up against..

Toronto's lineup goes beyond Matthews. Four other players have scored at least 10 goals: James van Riemsdyk (19), Patrick Marleau (16), Nazem Kadri (14) and Connor Brown (12). Plus, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and Morgan Rielly (out with an arm injury) are all having huge seasons.
Minuses:I think a function of being a young team is inconsistency. The Maple Leafs have lost five of six, but won six in a row from Nov. 6-18. They need to fix their game so the losses don't snowball. True, they have a cushion in the division standings, but that can disappear quickly.
Secondly, their team defense. I'm not expecting them to be a shutdown team, nor should they be because they are who they are, which is an offensive-minded team.
However, they have to be better through the middle of the ice. Toronto is allowing 2.90 goals per game and 33.6 shots against per game (tied with the Ducks for fourth most in the League).
The Maple Leafs are stacked up front offensively but their defense is their Achilles' heel. Injuries to Rielly and Nikita Zaitsev (lower body) have affected them. Veterans Ron Hainsey, Jake Gardiner and Roman Polak are stable, but Connor Carrick and Travis Dermott are young and shouldn't be asked to do too much.

Blackhawks

Pluses:Artem Anisimov returned Tuesday after missing 10 games with an upper-body injury. That's a good sign for the Blackhawks, who went 5-4-1 without him. Anisimov is a big center (6-foot-4, 198 pounds) who's good offensively and defensively, and they need that. He's a huge part of their team with 13 goals, including seven on the power play.
Patrick Kane has continued to be Patrick Kane. He earned his 800th NHL point in a 7-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday and has 48 points (20 goals, 28 assists) this season. For all that's gone wrong this season, Kane has been the one constant for the Blackhawks.

Overall, some of their young players (Alex DeBrincat, Nick Schmaltz, Jordan Oesterle) are getting big minutes and the opportunity to contribute. We're starting to see some of them make big plays.
Minuses:The Blackhawks lack scoring depth up front. They've been shut out twice in their past three games and besides Kane, Schmaltz (33) and Jonathan Toews (31), no one else has more than 30 points. It's also been their top six group who's accounted for most of the damage. The depth players must step up.
The Blackhawks have lost a lot of key players over the years. They've basically been victims of their own success. You can't pay everyone once you win, so some guys have to go. They've been good at recovering from this in years past, but it's been a different story this season.
Lastly, not having Corey Crawford for an extended period really hurts. He's been one of the best and most underrated goalies in the League the past few seasons. In his absence, Jeff Glass and Anton Forsberg have filled in. They have had some good games but have been exposed in others. It will be hard for the Blackhawks to make up ground in the Central Division and Western Conference without Crawford healthy.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH

1. What kind of effort will we see from Chicago?
   2. Does Toronto put its foot on the gas from the get-go?
   3. How will Glass fare?