Follow @james_tanner123 In what is sure to be one of the highest ticket sale games on the schedule, the Toronto Maple Leafs are coming to town.
The Coyotes, who, if you missed it, have called up Brandon Gormley, will face the Leafs fresh off a wild 6-5 victory over the Caps on Sunday. The Leafs meanwhile are also coming off a victory Saturday against Chicago.
However, before you go thinking the Leafs are world-beaters, they are a lot closer to the Coyotes in terms of roster talent then they are to the Hawks, who the Leafs only beat due to the unbelievable play of back-up goalie James Reimer.
The Leafs however, are a fast team and that seems to present the Coyotes with all kinds of problems, perhaps explaining how they have allowed 4 goals or more in over half their games. The team is just too slow. On the blueline, things are fine, as the team has more talent there than anyone could hope for. But up front, it's a mess.
The forwards are just too slow. I think you can live with the lack of speed from a Gagner or a Hanzal, if you have more than Boedker or Vermette to compliment them. Unfortunately, Doan, and Erat (rounding out the top six) while not exactly horrible skaters, are no match for the speed of most team's top lines. This is compounded with the plethora of grinders on the bottom six. It could be that this is leading to a lot of the high scoring totals the team is suffering.
Toronto for example will be sending out Kadri, Kessle and Bozak, all three of which are fast. Then there's the JVR who moves surprisingly quick for a big-man, and even their grinders are speedy. On the back-end, they boast Gardiner and Rielly, two of the fastest, best skating defensemen around.
Despite the speed of the Leafs, the Coyotes will look to build on Sunday's win and get a back-to-back win for just the second time this season.
Since both teams appear to be weak defensively, the game should be a barn-burner, but since that's what we expect, look for a 2-1 shoot-out win.
What I really look forward to tonight is seeing if the Coyotes will actually dress their most talented defense group possible - OEL, Yandle, Michalek, Stone, Murphy, Gormely. The size and toughness of this D is probably underrated, but most of these guys are relatively huge. The speed is great and the offensive talent is off the charts. There is a chance this D could be the best in the NHL very soon.
One thing I wish though is that Tippett would just unite Yandle and OEL as a super-pair already. The benefits far outweigh the costs, and since both of them play close to half the game, this means that it's almost automatic that the Coyotes would control possession for half of every game, at least.
The Leafs as well have a nice group of defensemen too, or at least they will in the future. They have the underrated Phaneuf plus Gardiner, Rielly and Percy who, if Rielly lives up to his potential, could rival OEL,Stone, Gormely as a trio one day. I don't love that they dress Polak and Robidas, nor do I think they should have given Robidas a 3 years deal, but whatever, it's Toronto I wouldn't exactly expect smart roster decisions. Anyways, I love defenseman and so this matchup tonight should be a great one to watch.
Thanks for reading.