Maple Leafs catch huge break against the Seattle Kraken

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a tough test against Seattle on Wednesday but just caught a huge break as the Kraken will be without Jared McCann.

Kicking off their Western road trip on the right foot wit ha win against Edmonton, the Maple Leafs head into Calgary on Monday with a chance to make it a five-game winning streak and set themselves up with a lot of momentum heading into Wednesday's game vs. the Seattle Kraken.

Arguably the second-toughest team on their road trip, the Kraken are a team who can surprise you and lay in the goals without a moment's notice, especially with players like Kaapo Kakko, Jordan Eberle, and Vince Dunn leading the way.

Maple Leafs face a weakened Kraken team after McCann injury update

But they won't have all their firepower on Wednesday as the Maple Leafs catch a massive break as forward Jared McCann will miss not only the Toronto game, but the next 10 weeks as he was placed on the IR with a lower-body injury:

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McCann, 30, had eight points through 11 games this season, and has been one of the Kraken's best players since being selected by the team in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft - ironically from the Maple Leafs.

Since being drafted, he has 141 goals and 291 points in 378 games with the team, ranking first in franchise history in points, goals, power-play goals, multi-point games, and multi-goal games while also ranking second in assists behind Dunn.

That's a massive break for Toronto given they don't exactly have the strongest defensive group right now and they need as much help as they can get when it comes to keeping the pressure off.

Seattle still is dangerous but Toronto has all the momentum

That doesn't mean they are in for an easy night, as the Kraken are a team who seems to be the ultimate wild card. They can either stomp you into oblivion out of nowhere, or get dominated pillar to post...it's truly anyone's guess as to who you're getting.

With how the entire team has performed lately though, with all four lines contributing at both ends of the ice it's going to be really tough for the Kraken to shut all of them down in succession.

Someone is going to beat you, it's just a matter of who.

But with a 7-3-0 start in a red-hot Pacific Division, they are certainly a team doing a lot better than anyone anticipated. To be fair though, the Maple Leafs have always had the Kraken's number since they came into the league. Toronto holds a 7-2-1 record with an average of nearly four goals for one that span.

If they can use the momentum they've built up and a historically good history against the Kraken, the Maple Leafs may indeed have a shot to come out with another two points and finish their October out on a high note.

They already beat Edmonton, and Calgary is next up. If they can push through the Flames and take down a McCann-less Kraken? Only the Canucks stand in the way of Toronto coming home with four wins - and eight important points.

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