The Toronto Maple Leafs face the Carolina Hurricanes with both teams looking to build off strong starts to the season. The Maple Leafs have a 6-4-2 record while the Hurricanes have an 8-2-1 record and with four wins in a row have the best record in the Metropolitan Division. The Maple Leafs are looking to improve in the Atlantic Division while the Hurricanes look to remain in first place in the Metropolitan Division and the upcoming game should be a great one as a result.
The Maple Leafs are having a strong season but hope the offense can step up, scoring only 2.91 goals per game. While William Nylander, John Tavares, and Mitch Marner have scored 13 goals and 23 assists to lead the top two lines, the rest of the offense has struggled. The hope is that Alexander Kerfoot and Michael Bunting can step up as they play a pivotal role in the forward unit but have only scored three goals and seven assists to start the season.
The offense has struggled but the defense has carried the Maple Leafs, allowing only 2.91 goals per game. Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie have combined for 1.5 defensive point shares and 36 blocked shots to lead the top two pairings but the rest of the unit has also played well with Justin Holl, Morgan Rielly, and Rasmus Sandin combining for 1.3 defensive point shares to add depth to the defense. With the Maple Leafs playing a back-to-back, the hope is that backup Erik Kallgren can step up as he's struggled with a .875 save percentage and a 3.62 goals-against average on 88 shots.