The Rangers hit the road again after a brief two-game stay in the Big Apple, as they take on the Maple Leafs in Toronto this Thursday. The Blueshirts, however, don’t seem to mind playing in Toronto’s lair, as they are 8-2 in their last 10 trips there.
Moreover, the Rangers’ seem to have an easy time finding the back of the net in road games against Toronto. They’ve scored at least four goals in Air Canada Centre in all of their last five games in the arena, including the Rangers’ 5-2 demolition of the Maple Leafs on Jan. 19. The Rangers might just torture Toronto’s faulty defense once again with the Maple Leafs ranking just 23rd this season in goals against per game. Conversely, the Rangers are second in the NHL with 3.3 goals scored per contest.
Goalie Henrik Lundqvist is expected to make his third start this season against Toronto. He stopped 23 of 25 shots faced in the January encounter with Toronto.
In his career so far, Lundqvist is 14-9-5 with a .901 SV% and 2.79 GAA against the Maple Leafs.
Toronto is up and running again. After stopping a two-game skid with a 4-0 win over Carolina on Sunday, the Maple Leafs started the week with a 5-4 overtime triumph over Winnipeg Monday. They’ll have Wednesday and Thursday to rest and figure out how to beat the Rangers.
Getting more possessions is going to be critical for the Maple Leafs this Thursday. They were outshot by the Rangers in the first (36-27) and in the second (41-25) meeting. They did a good job there against the Jets though, outshooting Patrik Laine and company, 37-20.
One thing the Maple Leafs have done well this season against New York is silencing the Blueshirts’ power play attacks. They are a perfect 10-for-10 in penalty killing opposite the Rangers thus far this season. They’re also 3-for-8 on the man advantage against New York. Not much of a surprise, considering that Toronto is tops in the league in power play percentage (23.0).
The under is 5-2 in Toronto’s last seven home games.
