NHL Grind Down: Friday, March 3rd - Page Two
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Toronto Maple Leafs at Anaheim Ducks
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Anaheim Ducks | ||||||||
 | Curtis McElhinney |  | Jonathan Bernier | ||||||
| Record | Record | ||||||||
| 28-21-13 | 32-21-10 | ||||||||
| Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% | Stats | GF/GP | GA/GP | PP% | PK% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Stats | 3.05 | 2.87 | 23.00% | 83.50% | Team Stats | 2.54 | 2.52 | 19.10% | 84.90% |
The Maple Leafs have lost their last four games and which has slid the team down to fourth place in the Atlantic Conference and into a tie for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. While Auston Matthews skates at even strength with Zach Hyman and William Nylander it is easy to take him as a one-off here as he not only leads the team with 11 points in the last 10 games, his 31 goals and 55 point is also tops on the team. James van Riemsdyk, Mitchell Marner and Tyler Bozak is the most consistent line the Leafs have with the former two players being the cash game plays here. Marner leads the team with 34 assists while van Riemsdyk’s 48 points is third on the team, just one point shy of Marner. Nazem Kadri is yet another one-off play here as he centers the team’s third line that features Leo Komarov and Connor Brown. Kadri has lit the lamp five times in the last 10 games and has collected 47 points so far this season. Defenseman Jake Gardiner is the obvious choice on the back line as he mans the point when the team has the extra attacker. Gardiner has also grabbed seven of his 32 points over the last ten games while Nikita Zaitsev has cooled off just a bit as he has collected four points over that same time frame. Toronto needs a win tonight to control their own destiny so look for them to hit the ice running tonight.
Anaheim needs to come out of their break with a purpose as they are dangerously close to becoming just one of those teams that make the playoffs but have no real shot at winning it all. Their 74 points have them in third place in the Pacific Division for now as they could move up into a tie with Edmonton for second place with a win here. Newcomer Patrick Eaves will be slotted on a line next to Ryan Getzlaf and Ondrej Kase. In my opinion the Ducks are getting too cute here as they are spreading out two lines of talent over three lines. Ryan Kesler centers Jakob Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano while Rickard Rakell centers a possible third scoring line with Corey Perry and Brett Ritchie. Kase, Ritchie and Cogliano are borderline top six players which is why this set up doesn’t make too much sense. I however do not coach the Anaheim Ducks so it really doesn’t matter what I think. The only thing I can do is say ‘I told you so’ if this all doesn’t work out. Kesler and Getzlaf lead the team with 46 points while Perry sits in third on the team in scoring with 11 goals and 31 assists. Cam Fowler and Sami Vatanen look to be the candidates to man the points on the top power play unit that will feature Kesler, Getzlaf and Perry. Again, this is another of my pet peeves as they are using one player from each line to use on the top power play unit. So what they are actually saying is that one of those players is a third liner but are good enough to play on the top power play unit? That doesn’t make sense. I get that they are looking to be like the better teams in the league and try to get three scoring lines. Usually it’s tough hammering in square pegs into round holes.
Elite Plays
TOR: Auston Matthews
ANA: Ryan Getzlaf, Ryan Kesler
Secondary Plays
TOR: Mitchell Marner, James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Nazem Kadri, Jake Gardiner
ANA: Corey Perry, Rickard Rakell, Patrick Eaves, Jakob Silfverberg, Cam Fowler