The Toronto Maple Leafs come into Prudential Center with points in their past six games (5-0-1), including five consecutive games on the road (4-0-1). A win would move them into third place in the Atlantic Division and put them in a Stanley Cup Playoff position for the first time this season. However, the Maple Leafs are focused on trying to rectify the problems they've had in third periods. They have given away multiple-goal leads in the third period in three of their past four games, including a three-goal lead late in the third period against the Detroit Red Wings in the 2017 Scotiabank NHL Centennial Classic on Sunday before Auston Matthews scored the winner in overtime. They also blew leads of 4-2 and 5-4 in the third period against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday and lost 6-5 in overtime. The Maple Leafs are minus-7 in goal differential in the third period this season; they are plus-14 in the first two periods. "It's just stepping off the pedal for a little bit in the third periods," Matthews said. "I wouldn't say we get too comfortable, but we step away from what we were doing and kind of get into that shutdown mode instead of going out and just playing hockey. That's part of being a young team, but that's really no excuse for us. We don't use that as an excuse. We know we're a talented team and we know what we're capable of. Those are games we need to close out."
