LGD: Believe In The Beebs
7 years ago
The Toronto Maple Leafs had a non-dominant but still celebration-inducing 4-1 win yesterday, and just like many other occasions this season, they’ll have to defend their good mood sooner than they can heal the bruises. Tonight, they head back home from Boston to take on the Colorado Avalanche at the Air Canada Centre. Here’s what’s about to go down:
The Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs lines courtesy of Daily Faceoff
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Leo Komarov |  Nazem Kadri |  William Nylander |
 James van Riemsdyk |  Tyler Bozak |  Mitchell Marner |
 Zach Hyman |  Auston Matthews |  Connor Brown |
 Matt Martin |  Ben Smith |  Nikita Soshnikov |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Morgan Rielly |  Nikita Zaitsev |
 Jake Gardiner |  Connor Carrick |
 Matt Hunwick |  Roman Polak |
These lines are out of date. Nylander is playing with Matthews, which is hard to fight against after Auston’s goal last night. The D core is the same. Free the children.
The Avalanche
Colorado Avalanche lines courtesy of Daily Faceoff
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Rene Bourque |  Nathan Mackinnon |  Blake Comeau |
 Gabriel Landeskog |  Carl Soderberg |  Mikhail Grigorenko |
 Matt Duchene |  John Mitchell |  Mikko Rantanen |
 Andreas Martinsen |  Joe Colborne |  Jarome Iginla |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Nikita Zadorov |  Tyson Barrie |
 Patrick Wiercioch |  Fedor Tyutin |
 Francois Beauchemin |  Cody Goloubef |
Joe Colborne plays for the Colorado Avalanche.
Colborne was once acquired by the Leafs from the Boston Bruins, where Colton Orr made his NHL debut.
The Leafs eventually decided to re-sign Orr and kicked Colborne to the curb, as Orr was a better fit.
The Leafs eventually realized they needed another centre after all, and acquired Peter Holland.
A few years later, the Leafs traded Peter Holland after they decided waiver claim Ben Smith was a better fit.
Ben Smith was claimed from the Colorado Avalanche, who needed room for Joe Colborne.
Circle of life, fam.
Starting Goaltenders
Antoine Bibeau makes his NHL debut tonight. He’s spent a lot of time on the Marlies paying his dues over the years, so it’s nice on the surface to see him get rewarded. What are his odds to steal the show? I tried to tackle that earlier, but the tl;dr of it is to expect anything.
Semyon Varlamov is expected to start for the Avs, but who knows for sure. Colorado’s goaltending hasn’t been too hot this year, though last night’s flaming dump truck of a 10-1 loss to Montreal hasn’t helped their numbers; Varly is a 0.897 and Calvin Pickard sits at 0.913.
What To Look Out For
Both teams are tired, both are probably looking to make better efforts than last night (despite Toronto’s win), and it’s an odd home ice on a Sunday night with a NHL debuting goalie. Just appreciate this one for the fact that it’s hockey and don’t try to overthink it, trust me. Puck drop is at 7.
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