G63 New Jersey Devils vs Toronto Maple Leafs: A golden opportunity

With John Tavares and Ryan O'Reilly out of the lineup, the Devils are catching the Maple Leafs at the perfect time. Can they take advantage?

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A few notes to get you set for New Jersey vs Toronto:

Take 2

Timo Meier’s debut with the Devils was good…but not great. He scored a goal and showed flashes of how dominant he could be alongside Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. Unfortunately, the trio looked out of sync for much of the night and there were hiccups along the way defensively.

With a game in his back pocket, and another couple of days to familiarize himself with the organization, I’m really interested to see how Meier looks this time around. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t expect a complete 180 and perfection. But I do expect better.

The Maple Leafs are a lot more compact defensively than given credit for. They rank 4th in 5v5 goals against, and eighth in expected goals against, on a per 60 minute basis. They can defend and additions like Jake McCabe should improve them even further away from the puck.

With key players like John Tavares (illness) and Ryan O’Reilly (injury) out of the lineup, the Leafs will likely lean on their team defense and structure even more heavily than usual.

While there’s always the possibility this turns into a track meet (there is so much top-end on both teams), I tend to think this game will be played a little tighter to the vest.

The Devils might need to see some of that dynamic power from Meier to help break things open.