Ducks vs Maple Leafs PREVIEW: Hello, Mr. Andersen

Game 21

Date: Friday, November 16th

Time: 7:00 PT / 10:00 ET

Location: Honda Center

TV: Prime

Radio: AM830

Two of Randy Carlyle’s soon to be former teams are due to clash tonight for a game at Honda Center. The Toronto Maple Leafs are well into their relaxing, California road trip. They have already played both the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose while collecting wins in both matchups. The Leafs have won five of their last six (so you’re saying we have a chance?) and are absolutely lighting up the goal column. In four of those wins, they scored at least five goals. John Tavares would like a moment to say, “Auston Matthews who?” The Leafs’ latest win came last night in San Jose against our rival baby sharks. Even though Mike Babcock’s team found themselves down 3-2 after the first period, the team decided to take back control of the rest of the game. They finished with three unanswered goals to win 5-3.

The biggest storyline heading into tonight’s game is who will be playing in net. Will we see our old friend Frederick Andersen? Chances are that we might see Garret Sparks, the Toronto backup, since Andersen played last night in San Jose. If it was a lighter night there would be a better chance of seeing a Gibson vs Andersen match up, however, Andersen saw 45 total shots against the stealthy Sharks. Andersen somehow saw through that and stopped 42 of those shots. Anaheim fans will be crossing their fingers and hope to see this goalie match up. We need something to be excited about over here.

Oh yeah, we can talk about the Ducks too. Anaheim is hoping that tonight’s game will be the beginning of some consistency. After beating the stellar Nashville Predators in a shootout, they got steamrolled by the Las Vegas Golden Knights. The team will look to mimic the former appearance and collect a much needed win. Can they get that done? Luckily Toronto is on their second night of back-to-backs, so that’s a positive. The Leafs are a high event team with plenty of offense so Ducks fans should at least be in store for some entertainment.

X Factors

Ducks

The Ducks DJ has a very difficult job. He has to keep the crowd energized when the team doesn’t always want to reciprocate. Look for the arena DJ to really battle and put those intangibles to use. I’m looking to hear some classics, but maybe with a little extra oomph. Start with some gritty Beastie Boys and sprinkle in pucks in deep Drake. If the DJ has a good game then fans will be in their seats having a good time. They’ll be ready to go when Ondrej (The Giant) Kase gets his first goal of the season.

Maple Leafs

All the good ol’ Ontario boys.

The Leafs only (?) have seven players from the province of Ontario. With my math that’s at least three goals a game. Tavares is a given, but with the likes of Nazem Kadri and Mitchell Marner the Ducks need to pay attention. All of these players know how to put the puck in the net. If the Ducks aren’t careful, we could see another lopsided game like the other night against Las Vegas.

No wonder Ontario native Brandon Montour is rumored to take a trip up north..