LGD: Keep on fightin’
7 years ago
Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
“Baby, this is what you came for.” – Rihanna, from the song of the same name.
It’s a cliche quote, but an applicable one. It’s the biggest NHL playoff game to be played at the ACC since Game 6 of the 2013 playoff matchup between Toronto and the Bruins. If it gives you any confidence, Toronto won that one, too.
In case you’re not into EDM-pop mashups, here’s a more fitting quote courtesy of the word maestro Mike Babcock who doubles as the Leafs head coach:
The Leafs head into tonight needing a win to stay alive, obviously, and with it would force a winner-take-all Game 7 Tuesday in Washington. Let’s do that lads, shall we?
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 | |
|---|---|
 Matt Hunwick |  Morgan Rielly |
 Jake Gardiner |  Nikita Zaitsev |
 Martin Marincin |  Connor Carrick |
Tyler Bozak is a Leafs 3rd line centre, just like we all predicted. Except he’s at 55 points and scored an OT winner in the playoffs. I really don’t have any other intelligent commentary to add.
Here’s a story we wrote on him after he bowed out in Game 5 the last time the Leafs were in the playoffs. I was trying to find the Leafs lineup from that Game 6, but found this instead.
That man helps to make decisions in the Leafs front office now, and I’m sure he couldn’t be happier to be wrong.
The Capitals
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Alex Ovechkin |  Nicklas Backstrom |  T.J. Oshie |
 Marcus Johansson |  Evgeny Kuznetsov |  Justin Williams |
 Andre Burakovsky |  Lars Eller |  Tom Wilson |
 Daniel Winnik |  Jay Beagle |  Brett Connolly |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Nate Schmidt |  John Carlson |
 Dmitri Orlov |  Matt Niskanen |
 Brooks Orpik |  Kevin Shattenkirk |
Who’s coming up big for Washington tonight?
No one? Ok cool.
I mean, it’s a lineup that’s struggling to put away the Leafs! How good can they possibly be?
Starting in net
Unless something catastrophic happens, it’ll be the same matchup it’s been all series. If you can’t even name the starting goalies at this point, I commend you for being that oblivious.
Where to watch
After catching Sens-Bruins Game 6 at 3, the game will be on Sportsnet*** (not CBC) at 7 p.m.
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