LGD: Down To Business
By ThatsKappy
5 years ago Good morning! It’s a Game Day.
The Leafs are back in action tonight against the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena. The Leafs have put together three consecutive strong games, but have only mustered a 1-1-1 record over that span, for reasons only the Hockey Gods can likely explain.
The Panthers, meanwhile, may not be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention yet, but their story of the season has been all but written. They’ll look to play spoilers tonight against the Leafs as our boys in blue in closer to punching their ticket to the 2018-19 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Leafs Lines
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 ZACH HYMAN Rating: 74.1#42 LW |  JOHN TAVARES Rating: 82.6#10 C |  MITCH MARNER Rating: 79.2#16 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 78.64#12 FL1 |
 ANDREAS JOHNSSON Rating: 76.3#30 LW |  AUSTON MATTHEWS Rating: 85.0#5 C |  WILLIAM NYLANDER Rating: 76.1#31 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 79.11#2 FL2 |
 PATRICK MARLEAU Rating: 72.8#67 LW |  NAZEM KADRI Rating: 77.1#36 C |  KASPERI KAPANEN Rating: 74.1#43 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 74.70#2 FL3 |
 TREVOR MOORE Rating: 73.0#64 LW |  FREDERIK GAUTHIER Rating: 68.8#190 C |  CONNOR BROWN Rating: 70.5#101 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.75#17 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 MORGAN RIELLY Rating: 79.8#6 LD |  RON HAINSEY Rating: 73.2#46 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 76.47#14 DL1 |
 JAKE MUZZIN Rating: 76.8#19 LD |  NIKITA ZAITSEV Rating: 71.7#76 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 74.22#14 DL2 |
 JUSTIN HOLL Rating: 72.9#61 LD |  IGOR OZHIGANOV Rating: 71.4#81 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 72.18#12 DL3 |
No changes for the Leafs tonight, which means that Tyler Ennis continues to sit while Connor Brown keeps playing, which is just laughable at this point.
In better news:
The blue line inches closer and closer to being fully optimized!
Panthers Lines
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 JONATHAN HUBERDEAU Rating: 80.9#8 LW |  ALEKSANDER BARKOV Rating: 84.4#6 C |  EVGENII DADONOV Rating: 78.6#18 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 81.32#2 FL1 |
 MIKE HOFFMAN Rating: 76.6#28 LW |  VINCENT TROCHECK Rating: 75.5#50 C |  JAYCE HAWRYLUK Rating: 71.5#83 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 74.52#18 FL2 |
 FRANK VATRANO Rating: 73.4#76 LW |  RILEY SHEAHAN Rating: 69.3#181 C |  TROY BROUWER Rating: 69.1#120 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 70.59#31 FL3 |
 JAMIE MCGINN Rating: 70.5#120 LW |  HENRIK BORGSTROM Rating: 71.9#114 C |  COLTON SCEVIOUR Rating: 71.1#141 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.13#13 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 MICHAEL MATHESON Rating: 73.5#54 LD |  AARON EKBLAD Rating: 75.4#27 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 74.46#19 DL1 |
 KEITH YANDLE Rating: 77.7#10 LD |  MACKENZIE WEEGAR Rating: 72.3#61 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 74.99#10 DL2 |
 MARK PYSYK Rating: 71.4#82 LD |  JOSH BROWN | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.37#18 DL3 |
The Leafs and Panthers are no strangers at this point. Tonight, they’ll meet for the fourth and final time this season.
The Leafs trounced the Panthers 6-1 back in December, but looked terrible in their other two games down in Sunrise. They’re 1-1-1 against the Panthers on the season.
Who’s Hot
- Auston Matthews has finally “found his groove”, i.e. he’s having just a wonderful time playing with William Nylander. Look out for him tonight.
- For the Panthers, Sasha Barkov is no longer the NHL’s best-kept secret. He’s been unreal for the Panthers this season, with 35 goals and 87 points through 75 games, including four in his last 3 GP.
Starting Goalies
- For the Leafs, Frederik Andersen (.918) gets the nod.
- For the Panthers, it’s… Sam Montembault? He’s got an .893 through 8 career games played, so he’s guaranteed to get a shutout tonight.
Puck Drop is at 7pm on TSN4.
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