Gameday Preview:  Los Angeles Kings vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Time: Monday, October 15^th 2018

Toronto: 5-1-0 for 10 points

Los Angeles: 2-2-1 for 5 points

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings come together for a battle of high flying prolific offence vs hardcore shutdown.  The Kings have started off the season mediocrely at 2-2-1 and only scoring 11 goals in 5 games. But this is nothing new for Kings as their defensive system does not allow for much offence. While the Leafs come back home flying high after defeating the Stanley Cup Champions 4-2.

This will be a different challenge for the Leafs, as the Kings have a way of shutting down big offences. Toronto will probably have to try and win this one in a one goal game and I’d be shocked if otherwise.
The Kings do have a couple big injuries goaltender Jonathan Quick and gritty forward Dustin Brown, these guys are instrumental in the success of the Kings. Jack Campbell or Peter Budaj will be thrust into the starting role tonight against the Leafs.

Top Scorers/Goalie Matchup

Auston Matthews – 14 points (10 goals 4 assists) 58% on Face-offs
Morgan Rielly – 13 points (3 goals 10 assists)
John Tavares – 10 points (6 goals 4 assists) 47% on face-offs
Mitch Marner – 10 points (3 goals 7 assists)

Aaron Iaffalo –4 points (2 goals 2 assists)
Tyler Toffoli– 4 points (1 goal 3 assists)
Ilya Kovalchuk, Carter – 3 points (1 goal 2 assist)
Jake Muzzin – 3 points (3 assists)

Garrett Sparks
1-0-0 6.00GAA .806SV%

Jack Campbell
2-2-0 2.31GAA .938SV% 1SO

Lineups & Injuries

Toronto:

Kasperi Kapanen – Auston Matthews – Patrick Marleau
Mitch Marner – John Tavares– Zach Hyman
Pars Lindholm – Nazem Kadri – Connor Brown
Andreas Johnsson – Frederik Gauthier – Josh Leivo

Morgan Rielly  – Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott – Igor Ozhiganov

Frederik Andersen
Garrett Sparks

Scratched: Tyler Ennis, Justin Holl & Martin Marincin

Injuries: Nathan Horton (Back)

Suspension: None

Los Angeles:

Aaron Iaffalo – Anze Kopitar – Ilya Kovalchuk
Tanner Pearson – Adrian Kempe – Tyler Toffoli
Jaret Anderson-Dolan– Jeff Carter – Mike Amadio
Kyle Clifford – Nate Thompson – Trevor Lewis

Drew Doughty – Derek Forbort
Jake Muzzin – Alec Martinez
Dion Phaneuf – Paul Ladue

Jack Campbell
Peter Budaj

Scratched: None

Injuries: Jonathan Quick (Lower-Body), Dustin Brown (Finger)

Suspension: None

4 Keys to Winning against Los Angeles:

1. Use the middle of the Ice
   1. The Kings will play a trap style, to try and stop you from using the middle of the ice. But Crisp passing, and not being afraid to use the middle of the ice will help in breaking the defensive setup of the Kings.
2. Win faceoffs in the Defensive End
   1. The Kings will try and cycle you in the defensive end and force you to ice the puck and tire your top lines out. They are built for the playoffs, win draws and get out of the zone quick.
3. Depth reliability
   1. Leivo, Kadri, Brown, Gauthier, Ennis, Kapanen & Johnsspon need to continue on. Nice showing on Saturday against the Capitals. They showed that they can really take it heavy to other teams bottom two lines with their speed, strength and scoring ability
4. Capitalize on the Man-Advantage
   1. If the Leafs get the extra man, it needs to go in the back of the net. You may not get very many chances to score.

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