Toronto @ Calgary preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 29, 2018 ) Calgary 3, Toronto 1

The Toronto Maple Leafs gave John Tavares a proper homecoming in their last contest, with the latter returning the favor by helping the team to its fourth win in five outings. The Maple Leafs hope that type of success travels well as they begin a tour of Western Canada on Monday against the Calgary Flames, who are looking to rebound after seeing their seven-game winning streak halted in their last outing.

Tavares opened the scoring with his team-leading 37th goal and added a pair of assists in Saturday's 5-2 victory versus Buffalo, boosting his point total to eight (four goals, four assists) in his last six contests. Linemate Mitch Marner matched Tavares by also setting up a goal and scoring two others against the Sabres, giving him seven of his club-best 55 assists and nine of his team-leading 78 points in his last five games. While the 21-year-old Marner set up Nazem Kadri's goal in the first encounter with Calgary in Toronto, Ontario native Sean Monahan and Elias Lindholm scored in a 55-second span of the third period to lead the Flames to a 3-1 triumph on Oct. 29. Monahan moved within one goal of tying his career-high total set in 2014-15 and matched in 2017-18 when he scored his 30th in Saturday's 4-2 setback against Minnesota.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, TSN4 (Toronto), Sportsnet West (Calgary)

ABOUT THE MAPLE LEAFS (40-21-4): Auston Matthews sat out the previous encounter against Calgary with a shoulder injury that would sideline him for a month, but the 21-year-old sure has made up for lost time. Matthews has scored 20 goals and set up 24 others since his return, with his helper on defenseman Morgan Rielly's first-period goal giving him a career-high 30 assists this season. "They do it right most nights," Toronto coach Mike Babcock said of the line consisting of Zach Hyman, Tavares and Marner on Saturday. "They played heavy, they spent time in the offensive zone, they had people at the net, they put the puck to the paint, they checked well and, in the end, they were rewarded. When you do good things on a regular basis and you're above the puck and when you play right, you end up scoring."

ABOUT THE FLAMES (41-17-7): Although Mike Smith saw his personal five-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday, the 36-year-old Ontario native opted to take a bigger picture view of Calgary's standing. "We're in a good spot," Smith told reporters. "We're in first place in the West. You're not going to win every game from here on out, even though you'd like to. It's just unrealistic." Smith turned aside 24 shots in the first meeting with the Maple Leafs to improve to 8-3-3 with a 2.23 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in 14 career encounters.

OVERTIME

1. Calgary C Mikael Backlund has recorded nine points (four goals, five assists) in his last eight contests.

2. Toronto D Ron Hainsey has set up a goal in three straight games to boost his assist total to 15, although just four have been earned against Western Conference opponents.

3. Flames LW Johnny Gaudreau, who has four of his club-best 53 assists in his last three games, set up a goal in the first meeting with the Maple Leafs.

PREDICTION: Flames 5, Maple Leafs 4