Follow Colin on Twitter! Follow @ColinDJD It is widely accepted that an opposing team will start their backup when they either feel that their competition shouldn’t offer too much of a challenge, or that they would perhaps like to rest their starter after playing in back to back games.
With that being said, the Toronto Maple Leafs will face their 4th straight backup tender tonight as they take on Niklas Svedburg and the Boston Bruins. The interesting thing to consider is that only one of Toronto's last four games have been against teams who played back to back games and they were weren't exactly weak opponents in terms of their overall depth, either.
So why is it then that teams are suddenly choosing to start their backups against Toronto, where as to start the season the Leafs faced 10 starters out of their first 11 games? Is it likely that opposing clubs feel that the Leafs do not present enough of an offensive, or overall challenge than do others in their schedule?
While Toronto hasn’t been playing great so far this young season, they’ve won five of their last seven games played and shouldn’t have a whole lot to complain about, all things considered. And though I say this, the consensus does still seem to be that despite their recent record they will struggle against teams like the Boston Bruins. Whether that will be the case tonight is left to be seen, but the sheer point that Boston is starting Svydburg over Rask says something, or at least to me.
In terms of the actual game tonight, Boston is on a hot streak with five straight wins and they took it to the Leafs during their last matchup. They feel confident in their chances tonight and head coach Claude Julien hopes his team can continue with and improve upon their strong play.
"We're going to expect more out of our team the whole year," Julien said. "We never get satisfied. I'm happy with the game, and I use that term all the time, but I'm not satisfied. I think there's still areas we continue to work."
And while the Bruins are feeling great and their guys seemingly have the confidence needed to walk away with two points tonight, the Leafs also have some wind in their sails and should offer some good competition of their own as a cohesive group…or at least so Van Riemsdyk feels.
"There've been games where we've gotten down. We just continue to battle and continue to play," JVR said. "... We have a tight knit group, and no one really gets too down on each other, or down in general."
The challenge for Toronto against a hot offense like the Bruins tonight will be, like most nights, to play a solid defensive game. If they come out of the gates slow and chase the lead right off the bat, this group will certainly have a tough time against Boston. Constant puck pressure, getting in the lanes, and playing a Leo Komarov styled hockey should be the key to their success.
It should go without saying that if Toronto doesn’t play a physical game and finish their checks, while also avoiding the penalty box, they could get beaten up pretty good tonight. It will be a good test for this group who is trying to turn a new leaf…pun intended…and prove that they can out-skate even the better of the teams.
"With us, we've always talked that this group can score goals. We got to defend. We got to prevent goals," Carlyle said. "That's one of the things we're trying to do. We've played more of a grinding game. We've played more an offensive zone time game. Those are the things we think we'll bring the shot totals down and allow us to form an identity."
That’s all for today folks, thanks for reading!