There is no reason for all Leafs fans to continue to freak out about losing two in a row the way the Leafs did – but then again, this game is probably the most important game of the season so far.

The Leafs are coming off a game against the Dallas Stars where they got the massive majority of scoring chances, but the puck just wasn’t bouncing their way. Now they make their way to Pittsburgh to face a Penguins team that lost two games in a row to the New York Islanders.

That is ugly, but just before that, they won two games against the Oilers and Flames with the combined score of 14-1. The Penguins forwards have been consistently dominant in this young season.

There are no changes from the forward group for tonight’s game in Pittsburgh. Even without Matthews and Nylander, the Leafs forwards absolutely dominated the Stars in their previous game. Individually, according to MoneyPuck, Patrick Marleau had a total of 1.39 expected goals, leading the team in that game.

All forwards but Marner, Hyman, and Brown, were clear above the 50% mark in the expected goals share in the game against the Stars.

Trevor Moore was called up for the roadtrip, but will not make his NHL debut tonight against the Penguins.

On the blueline, Justin Holl is coming out of the game for the return of Ozhiganov. Considering that this is such an important game internally, it’s understandable that Babcock goes with the more familiar player in this situation. The Dermott-Ozhiganov pairing has been outstanding so far this season, among pairs that have played at least 50 minutes so far, this pairing ranks 9th in CF% at 5v5 (60.87) and 30th in xGF% at 5v5 (56.55).

Everyone knows what is coming from the Penguins forwards. They are insanely deep and will give any team a run for their money. Even without Derrick Brassard, the center depth is still mostly positive – when you can play two hall-of-famers for more than two-thirds of the game, you will be alright.

Young Daniel Sprong has been outstanding in the AHL for the Penguins, but has only been able to average 8:31 TOI in the NHL. Still acquiring four assists in ten games is pretty impressive for a player getting so little time on the ice.

On the blueline, the Penguins are not so deep but still are pretty effective. The top pairing of Dumoulin-Letang has been honestly incredible and that is to be expected, really. A 55.18 CF% at 5v5 and a 53.33 xGF% at 5v5 is great when you’re always facing the top-6 of the opposition.

Andersen will be making his seventh start in a row for the Leafs. He has certainly bounced back from his not-so-great start to the season, making his save percentage on the season raise back up to .917, just one hundredth below his career average.

Murray has had a rough start to his season. In seven games, he has a .897 sv% and a -2.51 goals saved above average. His numbers have most likely been brought down by a terrible game against the Islanders last week, only saving five of nine shots against and getting the yank halfway through the game.

Puck drop is at 7:00pm EST and will be on CBC and Sportsnet for Hockey Night in Canada – NHL Network as well, but who cares.