The Toronto Maple Leafs are back on the ice tonight after two days off, and the Nashville Predators bring a familiar problem with them to Scotiabank Arena.
That problem is Mavrik Bourque, a player who has already made a habit of hurting Toronto. The 24-year-old, selected in the first round with the 30th pick in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Dallas Stars, is still only in his third full season. But the Leafs have seen enough to know he can be a headache.
Bourque’s numbers against Toronto jump off the page. Per his career splits against opponents on Hockey Reference, he has six points in four games against the Leafs, with five goals and one assist.
That is the most he has produced against any NHL team. He has also scored two game-winning goals against Toronto, which only adds to the sense that he seems to show up at the worst possible times for the Leafs.
The most recent reminder came on April 13, when Bourque was still with Dallas. He lit up Toronto for three goals and an assist, with the final goal standing as the winner. Even more striking, he needed just seven shots to get those three goals, a pretty loud sign of how dangerous he can be when he gets looks.
The Leafs do have reasons to feel better about this matchup than they might have in the past. There is a belief that some of Bourque’s success against Toronto came because of defensive holes that were there before. Even so, he is still a young player with real finishing ability, and the Leafs cannot treat him like a throwaway name in the lineup.
According to Daily Faceoff, Bourque is currently lined up on Nashville’s third line. That gives Toronto a chance to control the matchup, especially with the kind of shutdown depth the club has added. A group featuring Nick Paul, Colton Sissons and others gives the Leafs a stronger chance to keep Bourque from finding room to work.
None of that makes the task easy. In the NHL, stopping a player who has torched you before is never simple, whether it’s a star or a younger scorer still carving out his place. But the Leafs know Bourque has already done damage against them, and they should be ready for it tonight.
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