On the Road Again: Leafs-Devils Preview

It was a haunting image—the Leaf players just skating, skating, and skating some more. Coach Paul Maurice was obviously determined to repeat the road success, and leave that embarrassing home loss behind.

On Friday, Nov. 2, the Leafs will once again be on the road.

"We've got to play better," said Jason Blake. "We're a .500 team right now and we had nine games in October at home. What does that tell you? It's not very good."

Luckily for Blake, the Leafs will be facing the New Jersey Devils, a sub-.500 team. The Devils haven’t played very well thus far, even though they are coming off a big home win against the Lightning.

There are three reasons for the Devils’ recent falters. First is the roster changes. They are missing two key players—Scott Gomez and Brian Rafalski—and they have brought in 10 new faces, which has affected the team's chemistry.

Second is Marty Brodeur, who, like most of the best goalies, is a slow starter. In last night’s game the veteran was starting to pick it up, and looking like his old self. This is very good news for the Devils, as he will likely face a lot of shots from the Leafs’ potent offense.

The third and most important reason can be summed up in two words:

Brent Sutter.

Most coaches have simply conformed to what is now known as “Devils' Hockey”—but not Sutter. He employed an offensive style on a defensive team and expects John Madden to become an offensive dynamo—which is not a good fit, as Madden is a checker.

Worst of all, Sutter has stripped the C right off of Patrik Elias, which is tantamount to saying management has no confidence in him. That missing letter is starting to show in his play.

I think the Leafs have the upper hand in this game, but overconfidence might just be their downfall. If the Leafs want to win this one, they’d better not get too cocky, especially since both of their goalies severely underperformed last game.

Bottom line: it’s anyone’s game, but I'd go with the Leafs.

Maple Leafs vs. Devils, 7 p.m. ET on Sportsnet Ontario and AM 640 Toronto Radio