LGD: Clinch?
7 years ago
Are you ready? Nervous? Excited? Scared? Anxious? Tense? On the edge of your seat?
For the first time in four years, the Toronto Maple Leafs could clinch a playoff spot by around 10:30 tonight. If that doesn’t get you excited, nothing will.
For that to happen, the Leafs need two things to go right:
- A win over Washington tonight
- A Tampa Bay loss against Boston
Washington, of course, has already clinched a playoff spot, but is looking to really test their sense of merit with the chance to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy as early as this Thursday. So while the game doesn’t mean quite as much for the Capitals, they’ll still be fighting in tough to earn some regular season silverware.
Coming off a great start that saw them leading 3-0 before settling for a 4-2 win last night over Buffalo, the Leafs will look to continue their recent hot streak at home.
If the aforementioned scenario doesn’t happen, in their final four games, the Leafs need any combination of 2 Tampa Bay losses and Leafs victories to clinch a playoff spot.
The Leafs
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Zach Hyman |  Auston Matthews |  William Nylander |
 Leo Komarov |  Nazem Kadri |  Connor Brown |
 James van Riemsdyk |  Tyler Bozak |  Mitchell Marner |
 Matt Martin |  Brian Boyle |  Kasperi Kapanen |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Morgan Rielly |  Connor Carrick |
 Jake Gardiner |  Nikita Zaitsev |
 Matt Hunwick |  Roman Polak |
Auston Matthews can hit 40 goals tonight, so that’s fun. Please make sure to tell everyone on Twitter about this fact when it happens.
Besides that, it’s for the most part the same lineup we’ve seen for much of the season. These kids deserve a playoff spot, let’s see them go get it.
The Capitals
Karl Alzner
John Carlson
Dmitri Orlov
Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik
Most teams don’t have Kevin Shattenkirk on their third pairing. The Capitals aren’t most teams.
Daniel Winnik will get a goal and an assist tonight.
Isn’t it funny how Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik BOTH used to play for the Penguins?
Also, who do you think Brooks Laich is cheering for tonight? Like actually.
Starting in net
Curtis McElhinney (no surprise) will face off against Philipp Grubauer. McElhinney is 5-5 this year with a .919 save percentage, while Grubauer is 11-6-2 with a .924 save percentage.
Where to watch
The game will be broadcast on TSN4 tonight.
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