After a terrible loss in their first Auston-less game this season, the Leafs are looking to put that behind them and come to play at home against the Dallas Stars tonight.

The Leafs have not played that well at home so far, a 3-4-0 record so far this season does not look good for a team wanting to make their arena a fortress. The 5-0-0 away record is surely helping them along and making their overall record not look as terrible.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars are only 1-3-0 away and have a 5-2-0 record at home. So maybe they will cancel each other out and the Leafs will now just be .500 at home so far this season. Someone has to win.

The first game between these two – finishing in a 7-4 win – was probably one of the best games the Leafs have played this season, so maybe lightning will strike twice and we will be in for a treat.

Upfront, the Leafs will most likely remain the same as they were against the Flames on Monday night. It will be interesting to see what Kadri is able to do now that he has actual top-6 wingers beside him. Against the Flames, Babcock reunited the Marleau-Kadri-Marner line from last year, but it looks like Kapanen will now be on the right side, with Marner being reunited with Tavares.

The fourth line continues to dominate the shot attempts battle for some reason. Frederik Gauthier has suddenly turned into a capable fourth-line center rather than just a plug. He can defend well and has probably been the most pleasant surprise from this team this year.

On the blueline, Justin Holl is making his season debut. After being just a healthy scratch so far, the point-per-game defenceman will be playing alongside a returning Travis Dermott on the Leafs’ bottom pair tonight.

The Stars might be looking to pounce on the Leafs’ home misery, but they are missing some key parts in Alexander Radulov, Stephen Johns, and obviously the most important part, Connor Carrick.

The new line of Benn-Spezza-Nichushkin has not played at all together, but on paper, it looks like it can be an interesting line to watch. None of them are fantastic skaters but they all possess high offensive skill and a nose for the net. It will certainly be interesting.

Both sides look fairly top-heavy, but Dallas has the blueline to back them up no matter what. There is the blemish of a Roman Polak back there, but Klingberg, Lindell, Heiskanen, and Honka, more than make up for it.

Frederik Andersen – Making yet another start that might be deemed unnecessary, Andersen will be getting the nod for the 11th time so far this season. He is back after his horrid start, with a .919 sv% for the season so far.

Anton Khudobin – Dallas is going to be starting their backup for this game, making the right call after Bishop had a tough 35-shot game against the Canadiens this week as well. Khudobin is making his third start of the season.

Puck drop is at 7:00pm EST and on TSN4 or Fox Sports-Southwest.