Leafs look to have another strong game against Canucks
3 years ago
Going into their four day break, there were many concerns that the Leafs performance was a bit deceiving do to their xGF numbers and reliance on the power play for their offense. But after a bit of rest and a strong game against the Canucks that saw them dominate for all three periods, there’s a bit less concern.
We saw a pretty entertaining first game in this three game series against the Canucks, as all the Leafs big guns showed up, highlighted by Matthews’ two goals and Marner & Nylander’s three point games. But there was no bigger story than Jason Spezza’s hat trick, which I bet you probably didn’t have on your bingo cards for this season.
The Leafs look to continue this strong play from the big guys and the depth players tonight, while the Canucks look to put an end to a three game losing streak. Of their six wins, only two of them have come against teams with an above .500 record, while three of them have come from the Senators. They’ll be looking to get a win against one of the few competitive teams in the division.
Lineups
Toronto Maple Leafs
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 ZACH HYMAN Rating: 74.6#33 LW |  AUSTON MATTHEWS Rating: 82.3#6 C |  MITCH MARNER Rating: 76.6#18 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 77.83#4 FL1 |
 WILLIAM NYLANDER Rating: 76.1#23 LW |  JOHN TAVARES Rating: 77.6#15 C |  WAYNE SIMMONDS Rating: 70.2#112 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 74.64#11 FL2 |
 JIMMY VESEY Rating: 70.6#107 LW |  ALEXANDER KERFOOT Rating: 70.8#113 C |  ILYA MIKHEYEV Rating: 74.0#42 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.83#16 FL3 |
 NIC PETAN |  TRAVIS BOYD Rating: 70.4#124 C |  JASON SPEZZA Rating: 69.4#126 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.03#25 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 MORGAN RIELLY Rating: 75.3#14 LD |  T.J. BRODIE Rating: 74.2#27 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 74.76#16 DL1 |
 JAKE MUZZIN Rating: 75.1#17 LD |  JUSTIN HOLL Rating: 72.0#61 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.56#10 DL2 |
 MIKKO LEHTONEN |  ZACH BOGOSIAN Rating: 71.4#76 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.45#24 DL3 |
Vancouver Canucks
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 J.T. MILLER Rating: 78.5#7 LW |  ELIAS PETTERSSON Rating: 77.7#14 C |  BROCK BOESER Rating: 74.1#41 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 76.78#8 FL1 |
 TANNER PEARSON Rating: 73.7#38 LW |  BO HORVAT Rating: 74.8#34 C |  LOUI ERIKSSON Rating: 69.7#123 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 72.73#22 FL2 |
 NILS HOGLANDER |  BRANDON SUTTER Rating: 70.1#131 C |  ADAM GAUDETTE Rating: 70.2#130 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 70.15#27 FL3 |
 TYLER MOTTE Rating: 68.8#144 LW |  JAY BEAGLE Rating: 68.4#163 C |  ANTOINE ROUSSEL Rating: 71.0#97 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 69.39#28 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 NATE SCHMIDT Rating: 75.5#18 LD |  TYLER MYERS Rating: 72.6#50 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 74.02#22 DL1 |
 QUINN HUGHES Rating: 75.2#15 LD |  JORDIE BENN Rating: 70.9#101 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.04#15 DL2 |
 ALEXANDER EDLER Rating: 74.3#26 LD |  JALEN CHATFIELD | DL3 Rating Rating: 74.31#3 DL3 |
Leafs player to watch: Mikko Lehtonen
With Lehtonen already seeming to have fallen out of favour with Sheldon Keefe, Travis Dermott’s injury is probably going to be his big opportunity to show that he should be in the lineup. If he gets a few consecutive games in, maybe he can finally get a groove going and adjust to the NHL game. We’ll see if he can get that started tonight.
Canucks player to watch: Quinn Hughes
Hughes has probably been one of the few Canucks players actually playing well this season, and he currently leads all defensemen in points, so he’ll be a big threat for the Leafs tonight. He had a bad first game against the Leafs (but then again, who didn’t on the Canucks), so it’ll be interesting to see how he rebounds tonight.
Leafs starting goalie: Probably Frederik Andersen
It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but considering it’s just their second game in a week and they’ve been giving the starts to Freddie pretty consistently since Campbell’s injury, the Leafs will probably go with Andersen tonight.
Canucks starting goalie: Braden Holtby
After the Leafs lit up Thatcher Demko on Thursday, the Canucks will turn to Holtby in hopes of a better performance. He’s 3-3 on the year with a .896 save percentage. He’s 10-5-1 with a .924 save percentage all time against the Leafs, but a lot of that comes from his prime years when the Caps were really good and the Leafs weren’t.
Tonight’s game will be on CBC and SN at 7:00pm EST.
Recent articles from Scott Maxwell
