Toronto Maple Leafs vs Tampa Bay Lightning – 13/12/2018 – Gameday Preview

Time: Thursday, December 13^th , 2018

Toronto: 21-9-1 for 43 points

Tampa Bay: 24-7-1 for 49 points

The Toronto Maple Leafs head out to Tampa Bay to play the  best team in the league in the Lightning. They play fast and with skill, this will truly be a challenge for the Maple Leafs core.

Top Scorers/Goalie Matchup

Mitch Marner – 41 points (6 goals 35 assists)

John Tavares – 33 points (19 goals 14 assists) 49% on face-offs

Morgan Rielly – 33 points (10 goals 23 assists)

Auston Matthews – 27 points (16 goals 11 assists) 53% on Face-off

 

Nikita Kucherov –45 points (12 goals 33 assists)

Brayden Point 41 points (21 goal 20 assists)

Steven Stamkos – 33 points (15 goal 18 assist)

Yanni Gourde– 24 points (10 goal 14 assists)

 

Frederik Andersen

17-8-0 2.44GAA .928SV%

Louis Domingue

14-4-2 2.95GAA .905SV%

 

Probable Lineups:

Toronto:

Mitch Marner– John Tavares – Connor Brown

Kasperi Kapanen –Auston Matthews– Andreas Johnsson

Patrick Marleau – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander

Tyler Ennis– Pars Lindholm – Frederik Gauthier

 

Morgan Rielly – Ron Hainsey

Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev

Travis Dermott – Igor Ozhiganov

 

Frederik Andersen

Garrett Sparks
Scratched: Justin Holl & Martin Marincin

Injuries: Nathan Horton (Back)

Suspension: Zach Hyman (Game 2 of 2)

 

Tampa Bay:

 

Ondrej Palat – Steven Stamkos – Yanni Gourde

Tyler Johnson – Brayden Point– Nikita Kucherov

Alex Killorn– Anthony Cirelli – JT Miller

Mathieu Joesph – Cedric Paquette – Ryan Callahan

 

Victor Hedman –Dan Girardi

Ryan McDonagh – Erik Cernak

Brayden Coburn – Mikhail Sergachev

 

Louis Domingue

Andrei Vasilevsiy
Scratched: None

Injuries: Anton Stralman

Suspension: None

 

Keys to Winning against Tampa:

1. Speed Speed Speed
   1. Gotta be fast and furious against a team like Tampa, especially when they are rolling the way they are.
2. Screen the goalie
   1. Tonight we will see either Vasilevskiy come back from injury or Domingue play another game. Domingue hasn’t been superb he’s been good enough but putting everything on net and screening him will be key. As for Vasilevskiy he’s been out an extended amount of time might have some cobwebs he needs to shake, put everything on net if it’s him.
3. 3^rd and 4^th lines need to go
   1. It will be a head to head of some of the biggest offensive players in the east. The bottom 6 will be so important to the Leafs success tonight.