The Toronto Maple Leafs face the Anaheim Ducks with both teams hoping to improve on rough starts to the season. The Maple Leafs have a 4-4-1 record but the Ducks are 1-6-1 and have lost their last seven games. The Maple Leafs are looking to make up ground in the Atlantic Division while the Ducks are hoping to climb out of last place in the Pacific Division, making the upcoming game a pivotal one for both teams.
The Maple Leafs are off to a rough start to the season and hope the offense can step up, scoring only 2.75 goals per game. While Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and John Tavares have combined for 10 goals and 15 assists, the rest of the offense has struggled. The hope is that David Kampf and Calle Jarnkrok can step up and add a spark to the forward unit as they have only scored four goals and added two assists to start the season.
The offense has struggled but the defense has stepped up, allowing only 2.75 goals per game. Mark Giordano and Morgan Rielly have combined for 1.1 defensive point shares and 28 blocked shots to lead the top two lines but the rest of the defense has also stepped up with Justin Holl, Rasmus Sandin, and the rest of the unit creating turnovers in the defensive zone and limiting shots on the net. With the Maple Leafs playing the second game on a back-to-back, they hope that backup Erik Kallgren can step up in the net as he's allowed seven goals on only 49 shots to start the season.