Toronto Maple Leafs vs Arizona Coyotes: Predictions and Odds

Where: Gila River Arena – Glendale, AZ.

When: Thursday, November 21, 9PM EST

How (TV/Radio): Fox Sports Arizona, FAz+ | WFAN

Head Coach: Mike Babcock{All-Time 700-418-19-164 TOR, DET, MDA}

What started as a promising season has turned sour for the Toronto Maple Leafs as they have lost their last six games in a row and now find themselves sitting one game below .500. Last season’s leading scorer Mitch Marner is still out injured and many consider head coach Mike Babcock to be in the hot seat.

Offense

Things have not gone Toronto’s way since Mitch Marner got injured.

Not to say his absence is the reason for the downfall, but it sure is coincidental timing.

That being said, the Leafs are still the eighth-highest scoring team in the league and the second-highest scoring team when it comes to even-strength play.

They are the second-highest shooting team in the NHL, however that only translates to the 15th-ranked shooting percentage.

They have a quantity over quality approach. Another dark area is the power play. A team this good should not rank 18th with the mam advantage.

The Toronto Maple Leafs will have to go into this game and take advantage of their biggest strength: puck control.

The Leafs have the league-best faceoff percentage at 53.8 percent and need to utilize that against Arizona.

The less faceoffs they win, the more shots they will allow – and they already allow the second-most shots against in the league.

Defense

Defensively, things take a bit of a nose dive.

The Leafs allow just about the same amount of goals that they score.

To be exact, they allow more: 70 goals scored compared to 75 goals allowed.

The shots they have allowed are also dead even with the shots they have taken: 730 each way.

Even more worrisome is that even though the Leafs rank ninth in fewest penalty minutes per game (on average), they still have the third-worst penalty kill in the league with only a 73.1 percent kill rate.

They’ve also allowed two short handed goals this season.

Goaltending

Toronto starter Frederik Andersen is expected to be between the pipes for the Leafs Thursday night. Andersen has a season record of 9-5-3. His goals against average sits at 2.76 and he has a .912 save percentage. He has yet to register a shutout this season.

Arizona Coyotes (Home)

Head Coach: Rick Tocchet{All-Time 134-152-48 ARI, TBL}

Unlike the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Coyotes have won their last two games in a row and are amidst their best season start in franchise history. With home-ice advantage, former Leafs Phil Kessel and his teammates look to make it three wins in a row against the struggling Toronto team.

Offense

For as well as Arizona is playing, they haven’t been without their struggles.

Most of their wins have come solely from grit and determination.

Their highest offensive statistical ranking comes in the form of shots on goal and they rank 15th in the league.

The team sits at 20th in goals scored, 22nd in shooting percentage, and 23rd on the power play with a 15.15 percent success rate.

They also have the seventh-worst faceoff percentage, sitting at 48.8 percent.

With that said, all of those stats for Arizona rank lower than the Leafs and yet it’s the Coyotes who are on the winning streak.

Defense

Arizona’s defensive numbers help to explain the team’s current success.

The Coyotes have allowed the third-fewest goals against this season and allow the fewest goals-per-game on average and have allowed the second-fewest even strength goals against.

Arizona takes less penalty minutes per game than the Leafs and their penalty kill ranks in at 16th with an 82.1 percent success rate.

The Coyotes are also tied with the Islanders for the league’s best combined save percentage, with their goaltending tandem sitting at .926.

Goaltending

Darcy Kuemper is set to start between the pipes Thursday night for the Coyotes. Kuemper is 9-5-0 on the season with a GAA of just 1.85 and a .937 save percentage. He has also managed to rack up two shutouts.

These two hockey clubs have yet to face each other this season. The two teams last met on February 16 of last season where the Arizona Coyotes shut out the Toronto Maple Leafs with a final score of 2-0.

Two streaks are at stake heading into this game – one more concerning than the other.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have too much talent and too high of a salary cap to lose six games in a row (seven if they lose to Arizona).

Even without Mitch Marner, this sort of play is unacceptable. As for the Coyotes, they have a chance to extend their current winning streak to three games; and on home ice.

Questions to Answer

Are the Toronto Maple Leafs really that reliant on Mitch Marner? Does he have that much impact on the way the team plays? Does this mean that he was worth every penny of his lucrative contract signed this past offseason?

Can the Arizona Coyotes utilize their home-ice advantage to hand the Leafs their seventh-consecutive loss and win their third-consecutive game in a row?

Will Toronto head coach Mike Babcock head into this game with any interesting roster changes, be them scratches, line shuffles, etc.?

Toronto Maple Leafs Injury Report

F Mitch Marner – DL (ankle)

F Mason Marchment – IR/NR (undisclosed)

F Trevor Moore – DL (shoulder)

F Alexander Kerfoot – day-to-day (face)

F Nathan Horton – IR/NR (back)

F David Clarkson – IR/NR (back)

Arizona Coyotes Injury Report

D Niklas Hjalmarsson – DL (lower-leg)

F Marian Hossa – IR/NR (illness)

Toronto Maple Leafs vs Arizona Coyotes – Game Odds

The odds for this match between the Maple Leafs vs Coyotes are provided by Unibet NJ, DraftKings Sportsbook, and 888Sport NJ.

Good luck!

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