With the injuries the Avalanche are battling both at forward and on the blue line, they are leaning harder than ever on their top pair and top line: Nathan MacKinnon is averaging 23 minutes per game this season and over 24 minutes per game since the start of December, including 30:22 in the team's win over Boston last Monday. Mikko Rantanen is leading NHL forwards in TOI/game this season at 23:07, while Cale Makar is averaging 24:49 a night this season and 25:36 over his past 20 games.
For a Leafs team that has struggled against the Hurricanes' and Islanders' power plays recently, it's going to be critical to stay out of the box and keep the game at five-on-five against an Avs team that has won a lot of its recent games on the man advantage, where they're clicking at 35% in their last 10.
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