LGD: Firefighting
By Ryan Hobart
5 years agoTonight, the Leafs will take on a difficult opponent in the Calgary Flames. The Flames share the honors with Toronto of being among the best teams in the League this season. While the Leafs are 3rd in the Atlantic Division with 84 points, the Flames sit 1st in the Pacific Division with 89 points.
This will undoubtedly be a hard-fought contest at the Saddledome in Calgary.
Toronto comes into this game with a 6-3-1 record in the last 10 games, and Calgary’s record is slightly better at 7-2-1.
Led by Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Matt Tkachuk and a whole host of other great forwards and defenders, the key weakness in Calgary is their somewhat inept goaltending in Mike Smith. As a team, the Flames have a very mediocre 19th best save percentage this year. This will be an important weakness for the Leafs to exploit, being the 3rd highest shooting percentage team in the league.
Undoubtedly the Leafs fans out in Alberta will come out in full force as they always do, swallowing up the seats in the foreign arena. Although, with the Flames being so good this season, perhaps this time we’ll see a near-even contingent of Flames fans there as well.
Leafs Lines
Mike Babcock confirmed yesterday that Tyler Ennis will draw back into the lineup in replacement of Nic Petan. It can also be assumed that Frederik Andersen will get the start after having the day off yesterday and Garret Sparks starting the Thursday night game against the Islanders.
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 ZACH HYMAN Rating: 74.8#38 LW |  JOHN TAVARES Rating: 82.0#11 C |  MITCH MARNER Rating: 79.3#16 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 78.68#16 FL1 |
 ANDREAS JOHNSSON Rating: 76.1#32 LW |  AUSTON MATTHEWS Rating: 84.2#5 C |  KASPERI KAPANEN Rating: 74.5#43 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 78.29#3 FL2 |
 PATRICK MARLEAU Rating: 74.0#47 LW |  WILLIAM NYLANDER Rating: 76.0#47 C |  CONNOR BROWN Rating: 70.8#95 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 73.56#8 FL3 |
 TYLER ENNIS Rating: 72.5#78 LW |  FREDERIK GAUTHIER Rating: 69.9#163 C |  TREVOR MOORE Rating: 73.5#54 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.98#4 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 MORGAN RIELLY Rating: 79.8#6 LD |  RON HAINSEY Rating: 72.9#53 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 76.39#10 DL1 |
 JAKE MUZZIN Rating: 76.1#17 LD |  NIKITA ZAITSEV Rating: 70.7#87 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.43#20 DL2 |
 MARTIN MARINCIN Rating: 71.4#87 LD |  IGOR OZHIGANOV Rating: 71.8#75 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.59#18 DL3 |
Flames Lines
| C | RW | Forwards | |
|---|---|---|---|
 JOHNNY GAUDREAU Rating: 81.4#8 LW |  SEAN MONAHAN Rating: 79.3#23 C |  ELIAS LINDHOLM Rating: 78.5#29 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 79.72#8 FL1 |
 MATTHEW TKACHUK Rating: 78.4#16 LW |  MIKAEL BACKLUND Rating: 76.5#44 C |  MICHAEL FROLIK Rating: 74.2#47 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 76.35#11 FL2 |
 SAM BENNETT Rating: 71.6#115 LW |  MARK JANKOWSKI Rating: 72.6#89 C |  AUSTIN CZARNIK Rating: 73.3#72 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 72.50#14 FL3 |
 ANDREW MANGIAPANE Rating: 72.5#77 LW |  DEREK RYAN Rating: 72.7#85 C |  GARNET HATHAWAY Rating: 70.6#101 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.91#7 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 MARK GIORDANO Rating: 81.0#3 LD |  T.J. BRODIE Rating: 78.0#18 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 79.49#4 DL1 |
 NOAH HANIFIN Rating: 75.9#21 LD |  TRAVIS HAMONIC Rating: 73.5#40 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 74.71#10 DL2 |
 OLIVER KYLINGTON Rating: 71.8#11 LD |  RASMUS ANDERSSON Rating: 73.1#49 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 72.43#11 DL3 |
Preview
This battle between Western Canada’s team and the rest of Canada’s team will be an exciting contest as a showoff of skill. The Flames have been surging this season and have come from relative mediocrity to contender-ship.
With the Leafs’ defense in shambles while bemoaning the loss of Jake Gardiner and Travis Dermott, the Leafs will be leaving the puck movement to the likes of Martin Marincin and Nikita Zaitsev, unconventional candidates for that job to say the least.
The game starts at 9 p.m. Eastern time and will be aired on TSN4.
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