Leafs look to put strangehold on series on second half of back-to-back
By Dylan Murphy
1 year agoLess than 24 hours after securing a 2-1 series lead over the Montreal Canadiens, the Leafs will take to the ice again tonight for Game 4 of the series. A loss sends the Leafs back home with the series tied once again, but a win will pull the series victory to within striking distance and set up a date in the second round with the Winnipeg Jets.
Sheldon Keefe has a media availability at 5 p.m. so we won’t know until then if there will be any lineup changes (such as the return of Nick Foligno after his sudden absence last night) or who the starting goaltender will be. At this moment however, all signs point towards Jack Campbell playing.
Per Arpon Basu of The Athletic, the Canadiens have several game-time decisions to make, including Artturi Lehkonen. Head coach Dominique Ducharme wouldn’t reveal anything further than that. One thing that he did confirm however, was this:
With that, let’s get to the expected lineups:
Lineups:
Toronto Maple Leafs
| LW | C | RW | |
|---|---|---|---|
 ZACH HYMAN Rating: 74.6#33 LW |  AUSTON MATTHEWS Rating: 82.3#6 C |  MITCH MARNER Rating: 76.6#18 RW | |
 ALEX GALCHENYUK Rating: 70.8#115 LW |  ALEXANDER KERFOOT Rating: 70.8#113 C |  WILLIAM NYLANDER Rating: 76.1#23 RW | |
 ILYA MIKHEYEV Rating: 74.0#42 LW |  PIERRE ENGVALL Rating: 71.0#98 C |  WAYNE SIMMONDS Rating: 70.2#112 RW | |
 JOE THORNTON Rating: 72.3#74 LW |  RILEY NASH Rating: 69.7#137 C |  JASON SPEZZA Rating: 69.4#126 RW |
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | ||
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Montreal Canadiens
| LW | C | RW | |
|---|---|---|---|
 TOMAS TATAR Rating: 77.7#10 LW |  PHILLIP DANAULT Rating: 75.5#29 C |  JOSH ANDERSON Rating: 73.4#42 RW | |
 JOEL ARMIA Rating: 73.1#54 LW |  NICK SUZUKI |  COLE CAUFIELD | |
 TYLER TOFFOLI Rating: 75.9#25 LW |  JESPERI KOTKANIEMI |  BRENDAN GALLAGHER Rating: 78.3#7 RW | |
 PAUL BYRON Rating: 71.8#78 LW |  ⚠ERIC STAAL Rating: 74.2#45 C |  COREY PERRY Rating: 70.8#101 RW |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | ||
|---|---|---|
 BEN CHIAROT Rating: 73.8#38 LD |  SHEA WEBER Rating: 76.5#15 RD | |
 JOEL EDMUNDSON Rating: 73.8#39 LD |  JEFF PETRY Rating: 76.7#13 RD | |
 BRETT KULAK Rating: 73.4#46 LD |  JON MERRILL Rating: 72.6#54 RD | |
*Note that Eric Staal is listed as a game-time decision.
Starting Goalies
Maple Leafs: Jack Campbell
This is pure speculation at this point, as mentioned above, Keefe’s pre-game media availability is not for another couple of hours. Campbell has been exceptional thus far, limiting the Canadiens to 4 goals throughout the first three games of the series. With Price confirmed to be starting, it’s no long stretch of the imagination to believe that Keefe will do the same with his starting goaltender, rather than bring in a cold Frederik Andersen.
Canadiens: Carey Price
As confirmed above by Habs media, Price gets the nod for Game 4 and as has been the case for every game this far this series, it’s impossible to predict which Price will show up to play: the vintage, perennial Vezina nominee or the much more human Price that has been seen throughout the last four years. We certainly hope it’s the latter, but as always, it’s a wait-and-see situation.
Catch all the action on Sportsnet and CBC starting at 7:30pm EST!
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