TLDR: Toronto finally found a 2nd line that scores, and the reward is a flight across the continent to Las Vegas. Thursday's game at T-Mobile Arena is an early test of whether that comeback against Nashville showed who the Leafs are or just how the night went.
Toronto comes to Las Vegas off a 5-4 comeback win over Nashville in which Tavares and Nylander gave the Leafs the 2nd-line scoring they'd been missing, but the defense gave up 4 goals and the team has only one day to cross the continent. Vegas, in its 10th season and 1st under coach Ryan Craig, started 2-1 and plays at Seattle before this game. Travel and Toronto's leaky defense are the main things to watch, and the betting board isn't open yet.
Start with how the Leafs left Toronto. Nashville led 2-0 after 1 period and 4-3 after 2, with a Steven Stamkos power-play goal and 2 from Nils Hoglander, and Toronto still won it 5-4 after regulation. John Tavares and William Nylander both scored in a 3-goal 2nd period. Coming in, the question was whether anyone behind the top line could carry some of the offense, so that's the part to circle. The other side of it: 4 goals allowed at home to a team built on low-scoring, 1-goal games is not a defense that has things settled.
Toronto didn't start the season well. The Leafs were 1-2-0 going into the Nashville game, so the comeback was more of a recovery than a statement. NHL.com's preview of that game framed it around McKenna chasing his first point as a Leaf, and the young winger's role is worth watching as the lines settle. This board isn't open yet, and with Vegas having a game of its own on the schedule before this one, that's the right call.
Vegas is in its 10th season, and it's a strange one. Ryan Craig, promoted from the AHL's Henderson Silver Knights, is the 5th head coach in franchise history. The Golden Knights went 2-1 in their first week, including a 4-3 loss to Anaheim, before going up to Seattle. That Kraken game is the one result this preview doesn't have. Whatever happens in it, Vegas gets a short trip home afterward.
The schedule matters more than usual here. Toronto played at home on October 6 and has to cross 3 time zones to play a 7:00 PM PT puck drop 2 nights later. Vegas played in Seattle the same night and only has to hop down the coast. Neither team is truly rested, but one has a much easier trip.
So here's what to watch. Can the Leafs' depth scoring show up again on the road, against a team with a new coach still putting in his system? Does Toronto's defense, which was loose against Nashville, look any tighter? And what does the Seattle game take out of Vegas before these 2 meet? Craig hasn't had long to put his stamp on this group, and a team with the Leafs' talent is a good early measuring stick.
Leafs Head West to Meet a Golden Knights Team in Year 10 | Polymarket Odds · Barstool Bush
