These aren’t your Vesa Toskala-eqsue Maple Leafs any longer.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Vancouver Canucks

4:00 p.m. PST, Rogers Arena, Vancouver, B.C.

TV: CBC Radio: SN 650

Man, how will the Canucks top what they did last game?

After the horrible news regarding Derek Dorsett, the Canucks put together one of their most memorable games in the last two seasons.

There was a real ‘playoff feel’ against the defending champs of the Western Conference. ‘Brockstar’ and reigning rookie of the month Brock Boeser had two goals, including the game winner. Nikolay Goldobin was solid in his season debut, setting up the game-winner.

Oh, and some guy named Daniel Sedin got his 1000th point in the NHL.

Just when you thought you couldn’t top all of that mayhem from Thursday, the Maple Leafs rolled into town.

It’s always an entertaining affair when the NHL’s most-watched team enters Rogers Arena. Those dreaded Maple Leafs fans infect our arena, aggravating fans all across Vancouver.

That, and the Leafs are actually good.

The Opponent

Gone are the days of the Canucks dominating the Leafs. Those ten years were great for Canucks fans, but the wrath of Toronto has bestowed itself upon Vancouver in recent years.

The Leafs have 4-1-1 against the Canucks since busting the ten-year winless streak against them in February, 2014. These Leafs are a lot more dangerous than the crew that beat Vancouver on that night.

On Thursday night against the Edmonton Oilers, they turned the beleaguered Edmonton defence inside out, peppering Laurent Brossoit with 35 shots. Many of those chances were of the Grade-A variety.

They’ve been peppering goalies all season long. Toronto is fifth overall in even-strength scoring chances, and second in even-strength goals.

The Leafs are hot lately, going 7-2-1 in their last ten. Although the Tampa Bay Lightning have two games in hand, the Leafs are only one point behind them.

As good as their offence is, Toronto still gives up a lot. This game could be a track meet. Last time that was a predicted outcome against the New York Islanders, it didn’t go so well for the Canucks.

The Home Team

Ok, enough with the negativity. There are a lot of good things happening with this team right now.

The 3-2-1 road trip should be considered a success, and it ended on a high note after strong performances from a few key players.

Boeser and his 13 goals are now up to seventh in the league. On his wing, Goldobin showed promise that he can play and create offence in the NHL. A second great game tonight would go a long ways to solidifying his spot on the Canucks roster.

The other glaring positive to come out of that way was the play of the Sedins and Loui Eriksson. Their line combined for eight points, showing the promise that Jim Benning surely envisioned when he signed Eriksson to that mammoth contract.

Can Eriksson and the Sedins keep it up and provide solid secondary offence? Eriksson has looked superb since coming back from injury. The Sedins, in limited minutes, were able to create with easier matchups. Whether it is the Sedins or someone else, secondary scoring should be a factor in a game that had lots of offensive promise.

Game Day Battle Hymn

The battle hymn song today definitely sounds like sometime you would work out to after chugging some potent pre workout.

It’s heavy on the drums, it’s proper weird and most importantly, it parlays the perfect message for today’s game.

Enjoy the game folks.