01/3/2019 – Minnesota Wild vs Toronto Maple Leafs – Game Day Preview

Time: Thursday, January 3rd , 2018

Toronto: 26-11-2 for 54 points

Minnesota: 18-17-3 for 39 points

The Toronto Maple Leafs open 2019 at the most uncomfortable time of 2pm on a Thursday afternoon. The Leafs hope that the Minnesota Wild will continue their lack of scoring and that goaltender Michael Hutchinson will provide some much-needed goaltending while both the Leafs goaltender heal.

Top Scorers/Goalie Matchup

Mitch Marner – 53 points (13 goals 40 assists)

John Tavares – 44 points (26 goals 18 assists) 54% on face-offs

Morgan Rielly – 44 points (13 goals 31 assists)

Auston Matthews – 35 points (19 goals 16 assists) 51% on Face-off

 

Michael Granlund–37 points (11 goals 26 assists)

Zach Parise – 33 points (17 goals 16 assists)

Ryan Suter – 27 points (4 goals 23 assist)

Eric Staal – 25 points (13 goal 12 assists)

 

Michael Hutchinson

1-1-2 4.17GAA .839SV%

Devan Dubnyk

13-14-3 2.62GAA .912SV%

 

Probable Lineups:

Lineups:

Toronto:

Kasperi Kapanen – Auston Matthews – William Nylander

Mitch Marner – John Tavares – Andreas Johnsson

Patrick Marleau – Nazem Kadri – Connor Brown

Trevor Moore – Pars Lindholm – Frederik Gauthier

 

Morgan Rielly  – Ron Hainsey

Jake Gardiner – Nikita Zaitsev

Travis Dermott – Igor Ozhiganov

 

Michael Hutchinson

Kasimir Kaskisuo

Scratched: Justin Holl & Martin Marincin

Injuries: Nathan Horton (Back), Zach Hyman (Ankle), Frederik Andersen (Groin), Garrett Sparks (Concussion), Tyler Ennis (Leg)

Suspension: None

 

Minnesota:

Jason Zucker – Eric Staal– Mikael Granlund

Zach Parise – Charlie Coyle – Luke Kunin

Jordan Greenway– Mikko Koivu– Nino Niederreiter

Marcus Foligno – Eric Fehr –Matt Hendricks

 

Ryan Suter –Jared Spurgeon

Jonas Brodin – Greg Pateryn

Matt Bartowski – Nate Prosser

 

Devan Dubnyk

Alex Stalock
Scratched: None

Injuries: Matt Dumba (hand), Nick Seeler

Suspension: None

 

Keys to Winning against Minnesota:

1. Be Aggressive
   1. Attack the defence of the Wild. A couple of injuries have made the defence a little weak. Attack them.
2. Shots
   1. Put everything to the net. Make Dubnyk work.
3. Trevor Moore
   1. Moore has been a stand out in the AHL and has looked good in his first few games as an NHL player. Expect him to be a pest.
4. Travis Dermott
   1. Has really been upping his game lately. Expect him to be a huge impact for the Leafs tonight and moving forward.