The Toronto Maple Leafs are on a bit of a roll, winning three straight games to improve their record to 5-2-0 thus far this year. They’ve beaten solid teams in Tampa Bay and Dallas in their current win streak, and they’ve got a good chance to make it four wins in a row Saturday night on the road against Nashville. However, after that, the road for the Buds gets considerably more difficult, and they’ll need to bring their ‘A’ game to stay near the top of the Atlantic Division.
After the Leafs take on the Predators, they return home to host the high-octane Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. The Kings are a modest 3-2-1 this season, but they have the NHL’s top offense, averaging 4.5 goals per game. Toronto’s defense has been far from ideal, and L.A. will seriously test whoever is in net – most likely Joseph Woll, who will get a break when veteran Ilya Samsonov takes on the Preds.
But things will get much tougher for Toronto after that, as the Leafs head to Boston to play the Bruins on Thursday. The Bs have been one of the league’s best teams through their first seven games, going 6-0-1 to ascend to the top of the Atlantic, so nothing other than a near-perfect game will get the Leafs two standings points that night.
After that, Toronto has a seven-game homestand that will see them host the Buffalo Sabres and the Lightning – two teams that present major challenges to the Buds. Then the Ottawa Senators, Calgary Flames, and Vancouver Canucks come to town, followed by the Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild. The Sens and Flames are desperate for wins after sub-par starts to their seasons, while the Canucks and Wings have performed above external expectations and won’t be pushovers either. Toronto has beaten the Wild already this year, but Minnesota still presents a tough battle for the Leafs.
Many NHL teams like to look at their season in five-or-10-game increments, and so far, the Leafs have won more often than not, taking the pressure off them somewhat following a 2-2-0 start to their year. But in a league that has a great deal of parity, it wasn’t going to be long before Toronto once again was under the gun to emerge victorious most nights.
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The Buds will do well in their next 10 games if they can stay healthy, but like virtually every team so far this year, the Leafs need to rely on their depth to keep them competitive. In Thursday’s tilt against Dallas, veteran defenseman Jake McCabe left the game early in the first period with an injury that will keep him out of the lineup for a good period of time. Toronto recalled blueliner William Lagesson, a 27-year-old who is in his first year with the organization, after amassing 60 games of NHL experience over parts of three seasons in hockey’s top league. Lagesson will likely play bottom-pair minutes, but so long as he plays a sound defensive game in limited time on the ice, Leafs GM Brad Treliving and the rest of Toronto’s management will be pleased.
By the time mid-November arrives, the Leafs will have a much better idea of their strengths and weaknesses as a group. But if they can replicate the success they’ve had through seven games, Toronto’s fans will rest easy. But that’s much easier said than done. The grind of the schedule presents a difficult task for every team in the league, and the Leafs have to be consistently solid if they’re going to be regarded as one of the NHL’s truly elite clubs.