LGD: Corsi Hockey League
By Ryan Fancey
7 years agoWe’re nearly a full month into the season and the Leafs are currently tied for a playoff spot on the heels of a three-game winning streak and absolute rampage by Mitch Marner over the last week. Truly an amazing time to be alive.
Tonight they get things going against the darlings of the Corsi Hockey League over the last half-decade, but it’s a Kings team that hasn’t seen their strong possession game translate to much offence. For a Toronto team that’s producing plenty of their own, this really can’t be seen as the same underdog scenario it’s been in the past.
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 |  Ben Smith |  Nikita Soshnikov |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Morgan Rielly |  Nikita Zaitsev |
 Jake Gardiner |  Roman Polak |
 Martin Marincin |  Connor Carrick |
No lineup changes for the Leafs, they’re going to with what’s worked during this mini-streak.
THE KINGS
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Tanner Pearson |  Anze Kopitar |  Teddy Purcell |
 Dwight King |  Jeff Carter |  Tyler Toffoli |
 Dustin Brown |  Nic Dowd |  Devin Setoguchi |
 Kyle Clifford |  Nick Shore |  Trevor Lewis |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Derek Forbort |  Drew Doughty |
 Jake Muzzin |  Alec Martinez |
 Kevin Gravel |  Matt Greene |
Los Angeles really doesn’t look all that scary with a top six that’s sort of lacking talent, especially with Gaborik out due to injury. I think they’re still a solid team, but there’s nothing to suggest they should be able to take boots to the Leafs on the road.
STARTING GOALIES
Andersen will go for the Leafs, looking to get that .902 save-percentage to keep climbing. Daily Faceoff lists Peter Budaj as likely for the Kings.
WHAT TO WATCH OUT FOR
- As mentioned above, Marner is on the warpath these last few games and it’s resulted in him climbing to tied at third for the team lead in points with 10, just two back of Nylander and a single point behind Matthews.
- The Kings are again the top possession team in the league so far this season, clipping along at 55.9% score-adjusted Corsi For. They did get off to a rocky start in the standings, but they’ve reeled off a couple wins and now sit in a wildcard spot in the west despite being a bottom-ten team in terms of goal production.
- Auston Matthews ripped off another 5 shots on Saturday but again couldn’t get one to go in. Hopefully he can get a break or two, or four, tonight.
Game goes at 7:30pm at the Air Canada Centre, and will be aired locally on TSN4.
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