Toronto @ New York preview
Madison Square Garden
Last Meeting ( Jan 19, 2022 ) Toronto 3, NY Rangers 6
While Mitchell Marner is producing a point on a daily basis, so are the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Marner aims to push his team-record points streak to 24 games as the Maple Leafs attempt to tie a team record by getting at least one point in 16 straight games Thursday night when they visit the New York Rangers.
In a 7-0 rout of the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday, Marner had two assists. He delivered his first assist on a goal by John Tavares that put Toronto up 2-0 through the opening period and then set up Michael Bunting's goal that gave Toronto a 4-0 lead through the second.
Marner is the 12th NHL player with a points streak of at least 23 games, and since his productive run began Oct. 27 at San Jose, he has 11 goals and 21 assists. He is the third player since 1992 to get a point in at least 23 games and the first since Patrick Kane had a 26-game points streak during the 2015-16 season for the Chicago Blackhawks.
"It's incredible," Toronto's Connor Timmins said of Marner's streak. "It never gets old to talk about. He does the right things off the puck as well. To be able to produce like that is really impressive."
Equally as impressive is what Toronto has achieved for the past month. Since a 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 11, the Maple Leafs are 12-0-3, putting them one shy of the club record for the longest points streak set during the 2003-04 season.
The Maple Leafs have scored at least five goals in six of those games and during their current four-game winning streak, they are outscoring opponents 21-4. On Tuesday, Alexander Kerfoot scored two goals while T.J. Brodie, Pierre Engvall and Joey Anderson also tallied as the Leafs had 42 shots on goal.
"We're really coming together with the identity of the team and how difficult we have to be to play against," Tavares said. "That starts with checking and defending and how that really sets the tone for our game in other areas. It's getting more and more connected."
The Rangers are facing a player with a lengthy points streak for the second straight game. On Monday, the New Jersey Devils' Jack Hughes extended his points streak to eight games, but Igor Shesterkin also stopped him on a penalty shot and the Rangers rallied for a 4-3 overtime victory.
New York's Filip Chytil scored 2:15 into overtime after the Rangers tied it with two goals in seven seconds during the second period as Vincent Trocheck and Kappo Kakko scored shortly after Shesterkin stopped Hughes.
The comeback gave New York its season-high fourth straight win and the Rangers are 5-1-1 in their past seven games since a 5-3 loss to the Devils on Nov. 28.
"It's great, especially after those games what we had before, where we had the stretch when we were losing games that we should win," Chytil said. "So now it feels good. But we have to keep going, and (keep the) winning streak going."
New York picked up its sixth comeback win and second straight at home after blowing three leads and taking an ugly 5-2 loss to the lowly Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 3 that gave them a four-game skid.
"You're not going to be able to come back against teams like that every time, so we've got to make sure that we're playing a full 60 minutes," Trocheck said. "But, you know, I like the direction that we're headed."
--Field Level Media