Leafs Notes: Weekly Preview 12/31/17-1/6/18

The Toronto Maple Leafs will have a busy week with four games in seven days. They look to gain some ground on the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are in first place in the Atlantic Division, but it won't be easy.

On Sunday afternoon, the Leafs will take on the Vegas Golden Knights, who have only two regulation loses and one overtime loss at home so far. Toronto will then come home to face the Lightning on Tuesday night, which should be a good game. The San Jose Sharks will visit the Air Canada Centre on Thursday night, and they are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. On Saturday night, the Leafs will take on the Vancouver Canucks, who have been struggling lately.

The Maple Leafs have a tough task trying to win in Vegas since the Golden Knights are 15-2-1 on home ice this year. Toronto will need to play good team defense and not have a big gap between the forwards and defense, since the Golden Knights are 9-0-1 in their last 10 games played. The Leafs must stay focused, get tons of shots on net and have traffic around the net for second chance opportunities. The Maple Leafs needs to have a solid effort for 60 minutes and not have any lapses in judgment or play sloppy and turn the puck over. Toronto need to use their transition speed and be accurate with their passes. The Leafs need to figure out a way to stop the balanced attack of the Golden Knights, and one way to do that is to have a good forecheck game and sustained offensive pressure.

The Golden Knights will need to stay out of the penalty box since they are killing off less than 80% of the penalties taken, and the Leafs have the 5th best power play in the NHL. Vegas will need to get off to a fast start and play with good energy from the drop of the puck. The Golden Knights should try to force turnovers and pressure the puck carrier since the Leafs will turn the puck over and give up some decent scoring chances off of turnovers. Vegas will need the goaltending to be really good in order to win and not to let in any soft goals. The Golden Knights must find a way to stop Mitch Marner, who has been playing a lot better lately and creating with his speed.

On Tuesday night, it's going to be a big game against division rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Toronto must stay out of the penalty box since the Bolts have the best power play in the League. The Maple Leafs need to have the lead entering the final period since they have one win when trailing entering the third period. The Leafs must have a big game from the goaltender since the Bolts will have their chances and the goalie will need to come up with some big saves. Toronto should try to get off to a fast start, get the first goal, and keep the home crowd involved in the game early. The Maple Leafs must find a way to stop the duo of Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov, who have dominated for the Lightning so far this year.

Tampa Bay must play with some discipline because they have one of the worse penalty kills the League, while the Leafs have one of the best power plays in the NHL. The Lightning need have the lead entering the final period since they only have two wins when trailing entering the third and final period of regulation. The Bolts should try to have some crisp passing and use the stretch pass to get some quick transition opportunities and odd man rushes. Tampa Bay need to limit their mistakes and turnovers because the Leafs will capitalize on them. The Bolts should get the first goal of the game to get the home crowd out of the game.

On Thursday night, the Sharks will visit the Leafs. The Maple Leafs want to be patient but have quick puck movement since the Sharks don't give up too many goals to the opposition. Toronto needs to get shots on goal with plenty of traffic in front of the net because the goalies for the Sharks are pretty good. The Leafs should try to get the first goal of the game and keep attacking the Sharks. The Maple Leafs need to have the lead entering the final period of the game. They will also want to find a way to stop Joe Thornton and Brent Burns, who can act like a fourth forward when he is out on the ice.

The Sharks will need to get some good goaltending from either Martin Jones or Aaron Dell. They should get their forecheck and cycle game going early and often. San Jose need to play with discipline and not take any dumb penalties. The Sharks will need to get off to a better start since they have been outscored in the first period of games by three goals. The Sharks must get traffic in front of the Leafs net because if the goalies can see the puck then they will likely stop it.

The Canucks come to town on Saturday night ending a tough week for the Leafs. Toronto must not play down to their opponent, who has two wins their last 10 games played. The Leafs want to take advantage of a weak penalty kill of the Canucks, and cash in on as many power play opportunities as they can. The Maple Leafs will want to find a way to shut down Brock Boeser, who has had an excellent rookie season so far. Toronto should force turnovers and finish their chances. The Leafs need to find a way to have a solid, 60 minute effort with no defensive lapses.

The Canucks will need to get the first goal of the game to build some confidence and help get off to a fast start. Vancouver must stay out of the penalty box and play with discipline. The Canucks want the goaltending and team defense to be on point, and not give up too many chances or goals. Vancouver should be aware of the speed and creativity of Mitch Marner. The Canucks need to play a solid, 60 minute road game and not give up too much to the Leafs.

Leafs Notes: Weekly Preview 12/10/17-12/16/17

The Toronto Maple Leafs look to keep pace with the Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division.

The Leafs start their week off by facing Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. Toronto then travels to Philly on Tuesday night to face a well rested Flyers team. The Leafs then travel to Minnesota to face the Wild on Thursday night. Toronto will end their week with a game against the Red Wings in Detroit.

The Leafs will need to stop Connor McDavid as they face the Oilers tonight at home. It seems if you slow down or stop him in a game then the Oilers offense gets stopped. The Maple Leafs will need to watch the Oilers defensemen since they can put up some points especially Darnell Nurse and Kris Russell. Toronto will need to take advantage of one of the worst penalty kills in the League by scoring some goals while on the man advantage. The Leafs will need to get a good game from backup goalie, Curtis McElhinney since he hasn't seen much action this year. The Maple Leafs will need to get the first goal of the game and have a solid defensive effort with no Auston Matthews and the backup goalie in tonight.

The Oilers will need to get the first goal of the game and keep attacking. Edmonton will need to play team defense and get a forecheck game established early. The Oilers will need to avoid the penalty box since the Leafs have a very good power play that can be dangerous. Edmonton will want to have the lead entering the final period since they haven't lost a game when leading after two periods this year. The Oilers will need to get a good game from the backup goaltender and he will need to make some key saves since the Leafs can get pucks to the net.

Toronto needs to find a way to stop the recently red hot Michael Raffl, who has scored five goals in his last eight games after scoring zero in his previous 42. The Leafs will need to get some good goaltending the Flyers can also get some pucks on net. The Maple Leafs will need to have a solid, road effort and get scoring from the depth lines. Toronto will need to stay out of the penalty box since the Flyers have a good power play. They will also need to watch the Philly defense since they like to join the play in the offensive zone, and will pinch to keep a play alive.

The Flyers will need to keep the balanced scoring going that they have had the past three games. Philadelphia will ned to get the first goal of the game and build off of it. The Orange and Black will need to keep attacking and establish a good forecheck game early in the game to make the Leafs defend. The Flyers will need to limit their mistakes especially in the neutral zone since the Leafs have some good transition speed. Philly will need to keep James van Riemsdyk and Mitch Marner in check.

The Leafs will need to get plenty of traffic in front of the Wild goalies because if they can see it then they will likely stop it. Toronto will need to establish a good forecheck early in the game. The Maple Leafs will need to get the first goal of the game and take the home crowd out of the game. The Leafs will need to stay out of the penalty box and find a way to stop Jason Zucker and Eric Staal.

The Wild need to get some sustained offensive pressure to stop the balanced attack of the Leafs. Minnesota will need to play solid defensive game, and have the forwards make sure that the gap isn't too big. The Wild need to get plenty of traffic in front of the net, and get the first goal of the game. Minnesota will need to be better in the first period of the game since they have been outscored by a goal in first periods of games. The Wild are going to need to find a way to stop Patrick Marleau and William Nylander.

The Maple Leafs finish off their week with a divisional game against the Detroit Red Wings. The Leafs will need to play a solid road game and limit their mistakes with the puck. Toronto will need to find a way to keep Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha off the board since they are the two leading scorers on the team. The Leafs will need to get traffic in front of the net and get pucks on net. The Leafs needs to stay out of the penalty box, and keep playing the way they've been play all season at even strength.

The Red Wings will need to play better while at even strength since they have been outscored 66-51 so far. They will need to play a discipline game, and stay out of the penalty box. Detroit will need to watch the transition game of the Leafs since they have plenty of speed. The Red Wings will need to limit their mistakes and play a solid defensive game.

3 Keys: Maple Leaf @ Bruins-11/11/17

The Toronto Maple Leafs will take on the Boston Bruins on Saturday night in the second half of a home-and-home series. The Leafs could be without Auston Matthews since he has an upper body injury.

Here are three keys to the game:

1.) GET 1ST GOAL- MAPLE LEAFS

The Toronto Maple Leafs need to have a good start to the game, and that includes getting the first goal of the game. They'll need to get the first goal to take the home crowd out of the game, and because the Bruins are a better team when they score the first goal of the game. The Leafs will need to establish an early forecheck and cycle game in the first 10 minutes of the game. The more they are in the offensive zone, the less that they'll have to defend and that means less shots on goal for the goalies to try to stop. Toronto needs keep attacking once they get a goal because these are important points in the division that are up for grabs.

2.) ATTACK TORONTO DEFENSE- BRUINS

The Bruins needs to attack the Leafs defense and make them turn the puck over. Boston needs to win races to pucks and get in behind Toronto's defense to make plays to get some offensive zone time and scoring chances. The Leafs will turnover the puck, and the Bruins need to take advantage of the turnovers. Toronto's defense has not been the best in the League this year, and if they are pressured with their time and space taken away then they will make mistakes. Boston needs to make sure that they force those turnovers and capitalize on them.

3.) MITCH MARNER VS. DAVID PASTRNAK- LEAFS & BRUINS

The Maple Leafs are going to need for Mitch Marner to play his game, and not worry about how he has only scored one goal in 17 games played this year. Marner needs to create with his speed, and get the puck on net so the goals will come. The Bruins will need the production that they have had all season from David Pastrnak. Pastrnak has nine goals, seven assists and 16 points in 14 games played this year. He will need to keep crashing the net, and use his speed to get to the net.