Rangers Carry a Perfect Garden Record North to Face the Leafs
New York's road form has lagged its home run, and a Toronto club that gives up plenty of looks gets the first crack at testing it.
Written before the game
Both of these clubs can fill the net with chances. The difference so far is what happens at the other end, and that is the question Toronto and the New York Rangers settle when they meet in Toronto.
New York arrives at 7-3-1, second in the Metropolitan and third in the East, but nearly all of that damage has come at home: the Rangers are 6-0-0 at Madison Square Garden and 1-3-1 away from it. Toronto sits 5-4-2, fifth in the Atlantic and holding the second wild-card spot, riding a two-game winning streak.
Over their last ten games, the Leafs have created slightly more than the Rangers, averaging 3.65 expected goals for (how many goals their chances were worth) per game against New York's 3.50. But Toronto has given almost all of it back, with opponents' chances worth nearly as much, while the Rangers have kept the other side well below their own output.
For Toronto to win, its attack has to outpace a leaky defence that is missing Jake McCabe. For New York to win, it has to keep the chances against down on the road in front of Dylan Garand.
