Leafs Face an American Team For the First Time in 435 days!

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October 18, 2021

For the first time in 435 days, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be playing an American team!

That’s right! The Leafs will hear two anthems before they drop the puck for the first time since August 9th, 2020...when they host the New York Rangers tonight!

And go figure, the night that the American anthem returns...is the same night Auston Matthews makes his season debut!

And if for some reason you need a reminder about what Matthews did last season… he just had a measly 41 goals in 52 games...you know, Rocket Richard winner...runner-up for the Hart Trophy...that’s all.

Now, he is returning from wrist surgery that he had this offseason...but if we know anything about Auston...it’s that he comes out of the gates hot!

In his four season opening games, Matthews has put up 11 points, 9 of which were goals, and the Leafs won three of those contests – so it would be silly to expect anything different tonight.

And perhaps the most important part of number 34 returning, is that the Leafs’ lines will finally be set with Matthews between Mitch Marner and Nik Ritchie, and John Tavares going back to the second line with William Nylander and Scarborough’s very own, Michael Bunting.

What this ultimately does is restore that natural chemistry that the top two lines have had for the past couple years - so don’t be surprised if Marner or JT finally break the ice, and find the back of the net.

It also completely juices up that first power play unit, and the Rangers have already given up four goals on the penalty kill, the second most in the league.

So with that said, here are my picks:

Picks