Toronto Maple Leafs v San Jose Sharks
Air Canada Centre
Toronto, Ontario Canada
7:00 pm EST
Three impact players to pay close attention to:
For the Toronto Maple Leafs, Frederik Andersen and James Van Riemsdyk are two players fans should pay attention to during this game. The San Jose Sharks Brent Burns easily warrants that kind of attention as well. These three athletes’ performances will greatly affect the result of this game.
When Toronto is in the Offensive Zone:
JVR continues to shine this season for the Toronto Maple Leafs offensively. He provides a big body at the forward position and has a knack for finding the back of the net (12 goals, 9 assists). As impressive as JVR’s season is so far, the team will not be able to win without help from his teammates. The top two defensive lines (Morgan Rielly/Nikita Zaitsev and Jake Gardiner/Connor Carrick) have to create scoring chances and contribute offensively for the Leafs. San Jose is a great defensive team with good goaltending, so goals might be scarce if the Leafs are not in sync this game.
When Toronto is in the Defensive Zone:
The big question; is Toronto able to limit Brent Burns’ production? Burns is killing it for the Sharks this season, not only is he ascending to elite status as a defender but he also leads the Sharks in goals (12 goals) and total points (25 points – Tied with Joe Pavelski). I mentioned that it is imperative the top two defensive lines contribute on offense; conversely it is just as important that the forwards bust their behinds on the defensive side as well. Frederik Andersen needs all the help he can get and being sound defensively can create a plethora of scoring chances in transition that the Leafs should be able to take advantage of.
What to expect:
This game should be interesting for a couple of reasons. Defensively, Toronto is not the best team and will have trouble with the way San Jose moves the puck. There are ten players on the Sharks’ current roster with five or more assists; Joe Pavelski and Joe Thorton lead the charge with 17 and 16 assists respectively. If the Sharks are able to move the puck in the offensive zone without any defensive resistance from the Leafs, Andersen is in for a long night.
I mentioned earlier that goals might be scarce this game for the Leafs. The Sharks are tied for fourth in goals allowed per game (2.18 – Tied with Montreal), so it is important the Leafs do not get discouraged by a high volume of shots with no positive results. This San Jose team is a well-oiled machine and full of veterans, so it will be exciting to see how this young Toronto team fairs against last year’s Stanley Cup runner-ups. If the Leafs can avoid multiple breakdowns defensively; they should have the opportunity to score and come away with points at the end of the night.
Stats from www.nhl.com
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