Blackhawks vs Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs were always going to be huge home favorites on Wednesday against a tanking Chicago Blackhawks team playing the second hal...

The Hawks were dominated 4-0 at Montreal on Tuesday and are 0-7-1 in the second games of back-to-back sets. The former Hart Trophy winner and future Hall of Famer has a no-trade clause and reportedly will only waive it to be sent to the Leafs or New York Rangers, who probably don't need him after recently acquiring Vladimir Tarasenko from the St. Holl and Mark Giordano are the only Leafs defensemen who have played in all 54 games this season. It's believed the biggest NHL upset since 2010 was the Coyotes at +450 when they won at the Colorado Avalanche (-550) 3-2 in a shootout on Feb. 25 against the New York Rangers before being shut down due to a knee sprain. The Coyotes pulled off the 4-2 upset at +425.

Is Patrick Kane auditioning for a possible trade deadline suitor? How about Jake McCabe? On top of Auston Matthews' return to the lineup and Petr Mrazek's ...

His vision, skill, and ability to control the game are better than anybody, really, in terms of how he can slow the game down or speed the game when he wants to and find people. We need to be able to get on top of him quickly. With two matchups against Chicago on the docket and one against Montreal this week, six out of six points will be the expectation. [Leafs](https://mapleleafshotstove.com/) in the battle for home-ice advantage thanks to a comeback shootout win over Colorado last night. With Auston Matthews returning as well, there is no excuse for the [Leafs](https://mapleleafshotstove.com/) not to respond in a big way tonight. On top of Auston Matthews’ return to the lineup and Petr Mrazek’s return to Toronto, there is no shortage of intrigue ahead of this matchup, massive gap in the standings aside (7:00 p.m.

The Chicago Blackhawks tour through Original Six franchises in Canada continues on Wednesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena.

Playing the second game of a back-to-back against one of the top teams in the league makes this another tall task for the Hawks. [Columbus Blue Jackets](https://www.jacketscannon.com), with the Blue Jackets winning the second of the home-and-home series. The aforementioned Matthews has 53 points (25 G, 28 A) in 47 games while captain John Tavares is at 53 (23 G, 30 A) in 54. If Entwistle can’t go, the Blackhawks are down to 11 forwards — with Jonathan Toews not on this trip — so what happens at forward could be anyone’s guess. [Tampa Bay Lightning](https://www.rawcharge.com), although Tampa does have a game in hand on the Leafs. But with their opponent being a franchise known for providing unexpected comedy on the ice, a Chicago victory here could keep us laughing until St. Morgan Rielly remains the top offensive threat from the blue line with 25 points (2 G, 23 A) in 39 games. Richardson will provide an update to the media a few hours before puck drop, so we won’t know until then. Mitch Marner has a team-high 64 points (19 G, 45 A) in 54 games, also leading the team in assists. [Stanley Cup](http://www.sbnation.com/nhl-playoffs) Playoffs for Toronto, a franchise that still hasn’t won a playoff series since 2004. Offense hasn’t really been the issue for Toronto in the past, though: it’s on defense. And, specifically, it’s been in goal.