LGD: Kasperi the friendly NHLer
6 years ago
It’s game day!
How weird is it that the Leafs haven’t played since Monday, right?
Okay, fine. Anyway, we can’t talk about yesterday’s weird practice without acknowledging that 6-3 loss to Carolina. Babcock had the Buds off after 20 minutes, and the “worked hard so we were done” story is what they all chose to go with afterward. They also called off morning skate today. There’s likely no deeper meaning here, but obviously Babs wasn’t very happy with the effort against the Canes, and the Leafs are saving all their energy to come out swinging tonight.
So the Leafs and the Flyers are both coming off a Thursday loss, but I think overall, the Leafs have the upper hand.
Leafs Projected Lines
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 ZACH HYMAN |  AUSTON MATTHEWS |  WILLIAM NYLANDER |
 PATRICK MARLEAU |  TYLER BOZAK |  MITCH MARNER |
 LEO KOMAROV |  NAZEM KADRI |  CONNOR BROWN |
 JOSH LEIVO |  DOMINIC MOORE |  KASPERI KAPANEN |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
|---|---|
 MORGAN RIELLY |  RON HAINSEY |
 JAKE GARDINER |  NIKITA ZAITSEV |
 ANDREAS BORGMAN |  ROMAN POLAK |
Andersen is the confirmed starter tonight.
Scratches: James van Riemsdyk (injured), Matt Martin (injured), Connor Carrick
Flyers Projected Lines (via Dave Issac)
 CLAUDE GIROUX |  SEAN COUTURIER |  JAKUB VORACEK |
 JORDAN WEAL |  VALTTERI FILPPULA |  WAYNE SIMMONDS |
 DALE WEISE |  JORI LEHTERA |  TRAVIS KONECNY |
 TAYLOR LEIER |  SCOTT LAUGHTON |  MICHAEL RAFFL |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
|---|---|
 IVAN PROVOROV |  SHAYNE GOSTISBEHERE |
 BRANDON MANNING |  RADKO GUDAS |
 TRAVIS SANHEIM |  ROBERT HAGG |
Brian Elliott is projected to start.
Scratches: Nolan Patrick (injured)
Quick Hits
- Tonight is Connor Brown’s 100th NHL game!
- James van Riemsdyk played against Carolina after appearing to suffer an injury on Monday, but he’ll sit out tonight.
- Matt Martin, who did finish out the game on Thursday after disappearing to the room for a moment, is also scratched.
- Kasperi Kapanen has been called up from the Marlies, and Josh Leivo finally draws in, as well.
- Marner is back with Bozak, but Marleau is taking JvR’s spot. Brown moves to the slot vacated by Marleau, putting Babcock’s “matchup line” of Komarov – Kadri – Brown back together.
- The Flyers’ occasional offensive outbursts are nothing unfamiliar to Leafs fans, and we could be in for some dueling firepower tonight. Unlike the Leafs, though, the Flyers mostly rely on the same couple of guys for their scoring. Namely, Jakub Voracek, Sean Couturier, and Wayne Simmonds. The Leafs have seen significant contributions from all over the lineup.
- Philadelphia’s Nolan Patrick (second overall pick in this year’s draft) was scratched last-minute on Thursday after being expected to play. He’s been listed as day-to-day since being taken out of the game by a hit from Anaheim’s Chris Wagner on Tuesday…and it looks like he’s out again tonight.
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