Toronto Maple Leafs (40-21-4 84pts) v. Calgary Flames (41-17-7 89pts)
Time: 9p EST
Station: SportsNet West, TSN4
Preview:
The Toronto Maple Leafs hit the road again to play one of the best teams in the West, the Calgary Flames. The Flames are boasting one of the best scorers in the league with Johnny Gaudreau and a Norris trophy candidate in Mark Giordano. The Leafs will look to bring their High Octane offense to Calgary and outscore the Flames with Mitch Marner leading the way scoring wise and a Norris candidate of their own in Morgan Rielly. Should be a really interesting and intense game. The Goalie matchup should be Mike Smith vs Frederik Andersen.
Top Scorers/Goalie Matchup
Mitch Marner –78 points (23 goals 55 assists)
John Tavares – 71 points (37 goals 34 assists) 54% on face-offs
Morgan Rielly – 62 points (16 goals 46 assists)
Auston Matthews – 60 points (30 goals 30 assists) 52% on Face-offs
Johnny Gaudreau – 83 points (30 goals 53 assists)
Elias Lindholm –72 points (26 goals 46 assists)
Sean Monahan – 70 points (30 goals 40 assists)
Matthew Tkachuk –61 points (25 goals 36 assists)
Frederik Andersen
31-13-3 2.58GAA .923SV%
Mike Smith
19-12-2 2.92GAA .895SV%
Toronto Maple Leafs:
Projected Lineup:
Andreas Johnsson – Auston Matthews – Kasperi Kapanen
Mitch Marner – John Tavares – Zach Hyman
Patrick Marleau – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander
Tyler Ennis – Frederik Gauthier – Trevor Moore
Morgan Rielly – Ron Hainsey
Jake Muzzin – Nikita Zaitsev
Martin Marincin – Igor Ozhiganov
Frederik Andersen
Garrett Sparks
Scratched: none
Injuries: Nathan Horton (Back), Jake Gardiner (Back) and Travis Dermott (Shoulder)
Suspension: None
Flames:
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan– Elias Lindholm
Matthew Tkachuk – Mikael Backlund –Michael Frolik
Sam Bennett – Mark Jankowski – Austin Czarnik
Andrew Mangiapane – Derek Ryan – Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano – TJ Brodie
Noah Hanifin – Travis Hamonic
Oscar Fantenberg – Rasmus Andersson
Mike Smith
David Rittich
Scratched: None
Injuries: Michael Stone, Olivier Kylington, James Neal
Suspension: None
Keys to the Game:
1. Play tough against the top line of Calgary
- Don’t give them any room to maneuver, because they will make you pay on the scoreboard
2. Matthews, Johnsson, and Kapanen need to be an impact
- These 3 need to have an impact on this game with Tavares, Marner, and Hyman checking the top line these three will need to play big. Which I fully expect them too.
3. Top 4 Defencemen need to be good
- Muzzin, Rielly, Hainsey, Zaitsev. Need to step up and be solid!
