Toronto Maple Leafs vs. New Jersey Devils: Head-to-Toe Breakdown

The struggling New Jersey Devils will be at the Air Canada Center in Toronto this evening to take on the surprising Maple Leafs. The two teams sit one spot apart in the Eastern Conference standings with the Leafs sitting in sixth place with 26 points, and the Devils in seventh with 25.

The Devils came out of the gates on a tear this season but have struggled recently and are currently on a four game winless streak. The Devils will play their last game of a three game road trip while the Leafs play the first of three at home out of four games in total this week.

This is the first meeting between the two teams this season.

Here is a head-to-toe breakdown of the Leafs vs. Devils heading in to tonight.

Forwards

The Leafs have a significant edge in offense so far this year, sitting in seventh in the league in goals with 64. Nazem Kadri leads the team with 21 points, and James van Riemsdyk has the most goals with 12. The Leafs have eight forwards with 10 points or more and are getting a nice distribution of offense throughout the lineup with different contributors stepping up on any given night.

The Devils are 21st in the league in goals for and 12 behind the Leafs at 52. Veteran forward Patrick Elias leads the team with 22 points, and rugged center David Clarkson leads with 10 goals. The Devils are front loaded though, as only Elias, Ilya Kovalchuk and Clarkson have 10 points or more this season. The Devils are desperately searching for secondary scoring.

Edge: Maple Leafs

Defense

The Devils are notorious for being the stingiest of teams on defense, and this year they are sitting in 12th overall with 56 goals against. The Devils defense is led offensively by Marek Zidlicky, who has eight points but is a minus-three so far this year. Captain Bryce Salvador is the rock of the group, and all except Zidlicky are even or on the plus side of the key defensive stat.

The Leafs are notorious for being porous in their own zone, but this season tells a different story so far. The Leafs have allowed 55 goals against this season, one less than the Devils, and are one of the most improved defensive teams in the league. Cody Franson and Dion Phaneuf are both in double digits in points with 13 and 10.

Mark Fraser leads the Leafs and the league with an impressive plus-15, and Franson is right behind at plus-11. Phaneuf and Mike Kostka are struggling a bit on the defensive side, both with a significant minus beside their names.

Edge: Maple Leafs

Goaltending

Normally, this slide would take one sentence to complete with Martin Brodeur getting the edge no matter who the Leafs put between the pipes. Brodeur is on the shelf right now and has not played since leaving the warm up on February 23.

Johan Hedberg is 0-3-1 in Brodeur's absence, and it is unclear who will start for the Devils tonight.

James Reimer has just returned after missing a couple weeks with a knee injury and looked a bit rusty in a win on Long Island last week in his first game back. Ben Scrivens has done a solid job every time he has been called upon to take the net, and the tandem gives the Leafs a surprising edge here.

Edge: Maple Leafs

Special Teams

A quick look at the special teams for both these squads shows a dead heat on the power play, as both teams are tied in the middle of the pack at 16.5 percent.

Nazem Kadri leads the way for the Leafs with four power-play goals, and JVR is right behind with three. The Leafs have some good options on the power play as Dion Phaneuf, Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel also have two goals each.

Devil David Clarkson leads all in the game with five power-play goals, and Elias and Kovalchuk each have two.

The Leafs are 15th overall in the penalty-killing department and have allowed 13 goals against for an 81.69% success rate. The Devils have been slightly less successful and sit 21st in the league with 19 goals against and a 78.89% rate.

Edge: Maple Leafs

Coaching

Randy Carlyle has been front and center in transforming the look and play of the Maple Leafs this season.

He is pushing all the right buttons for the blue and white so far. The identity he has brought to this team has been evident on more nights than not, and the Leafs have become a very tough team to play against. The players have completely bought in to his straight forward, communicative approach.

Devils coach Peter DeBoer is one of the best young coaches in the NHL, and getting the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season there is proof of that. The Devils are always a system first, disciplined type of team, and DeBoer is one of the best at preparing his troops night after night.

Edge: Even

Overall

The Leafs seem to be a team on the way up, while the Devils have been on the down in recent weeks and are in the last game of a three game road trip.

Combine that with the fact that the Leafs have been off for three days resting, recharging and healing their wounds, and the recipe is right for a Maple Leaf win.

Prediction: Leafs Win 3-1

Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report NHL Toronto Maple Leafs and a Featured Columnist with Bleacher Report UFC.

Follow him on Twitter at wakafightermma.