LGD: A kingly matchup
7 years ago
Photo via Marner93
Want to unnecessarily stress about something you have no control over while it eats into your sleep schedule? Prepared to yell at your TV past the hours of midnight? Love you some late night sports?
Well have we got the hockey game for you!
The Leafs face off against the Los Angeles Kings tonight in LALALAnd, with puck drop coming at 10:30 p.m.
Both teams are fighting for their playoff lives. Toronto sits one point in the final wildcard in the Eastern conference, while LA sits one point out in the West.
Oh and the last time these two played, Toronto lost by seven goals. It coincided with the American presidential election, which is probably why you forget it.
The Leafs
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Zach Hyman |  Auston Matthews |  William Nylander |
 James van Riemsdyk |  Tyler Bozak |  Mitchell Marner |
 Leo Komarov |  Nazem Kadri |  Connor Brown |
 Matt Martin |  Brian Boyle |  Nikita Soshnikov |
Morgan Rielly
Alexey Marchenko
Jake Gardiner
Well, the trade deadline has come and gone and Roman Polak and Matt Hunwick are still Toronto Maple Leafs. Brian Boyle continues in his second. Besides Marchenko and Boyle, it’s a mostly unchanged lineup as we’ve seen much of the season.
It looks like hot streak Josh Leivo will be the odd man out, though that could change before puck drop.
Fight it out amongst yourself accordingly.
THe KIngs
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Marian Gaborik |  Anze Kopitar |  Jarome Iginla |
 Tanner Pearson |  Jeff Carter |  Tyler Toffoli |
 Trevor Lewis |  Nick Shore |  Dustin Brown |
 Adrian Kempe |  Nic Dowd |  Kyle Clifford |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Derek Forbort |  Drew Doughty |
 Jake Muzzin | THE JERSEYLESS PAUL LADUE |
 Brayden McNabb |  Alec Martinez |
Jarome Iginla, who once signed to play for the Colorado Avalanche because he thought they’d be a Stanley Cup contender, is making his LA Kings debut.
The Kings themselves are a watered-down version of their cup-winning side from three years ago now, and are not quite the threat they’ve been known to be. The team’s scored just 155 goals through 63 games this year… but they’ve only allowed 158. Expect some low scoring hockey in this one, as LA has yet to play a game with more than 5 total goals (for both teams) since 2009.
Between the pipes
It’s likely to be Frederik Andersen fighting off against Jonathan Quick in this one. Brian Boyle will not face off against Ben Bishop just yet.
Where to Watch
Sportsnet Ontario is carrying this one at 10:30 p.m.
Recent articles from Adam Laskaris
