LGD: Matthews goes home
6 years ago
As the Christmas break comes to an end and the season gets back into the swing of things, the Leafs are heading down to the desert for their customary holiday road game against the Arizona Coyotes.
The Leafs will be nice and rested; this is their first game back from the holiday break, and they won that Saturday, to boot. In contrast, Arizona played an away game last night against the Colorado Avalanche, meaning they have both a quick road trip and a back-to-back weighing them down as they look to pick up two points from the high-flying Leafs.
As a playoff team, Toronto should have this in the bag – but as we saw in the last game between these two teams, nothing ever goes quite like you’d expect.
THE LEAFS
Hyman-Matthews-Nylander
Leivo-Kadri-Komarov
van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Marner
Martin-Moore-Brown*
Leivo-Kadri-Komarov
van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Marner
Martin-Moore-Brown*
Rielly-Marincin
Gardiner-Carrick
Borgman-Polak
Gardiner-Carrick
Borgman-Polak
Starting goaltender: Frederik Andersen
The asterisk next to Brown is due to some lineup uncertainty even after morning skate. TSN’s Kristen Shilton reported these lines, but added that neither Ron Hainsey on defense nor Patrick Marleau for the forward corps were at practice. She expects both to appear in the lineup later tonight, which means that someone won’t draw in at each position.
Matthews is just one game into his return from injury, meaning he’s back in time for the big game of the year for him and his former fanbase. As a lifelong Coyotes fan, the top-line center has become a hometown hero in the desert – so he’ll get a chance to show them just what he’s able to do with his new team.
To no real shock, Andersen will get the nod in net, giving him a chance to continue what’s been a solid season after a few early-year missteps.
No real analysis of the lines until we’re sure what they’ll actually be tonight, but this roster has about 6 times more talent than Arizona, so should be fun seeing what the officials decide is the reason for Arizona winning tonight.
THE COYOTES
Starting goaltender: Possibly Scott Wedgewood?
Arizona played last night, so don’t expect any line changes to be given today until puck drop – but with no injuries last night and two players already down for the count, it’s reasonable to believe that the team won’t mess with things too much.
After a few months of frantically trying to figure out who worked well together, the line combos that Arizona used in Denver on Wednesday actually looked like some of the best to date.
The big observations: Tobias Rieder, who played his best hockey over his career with big, defensive center Martin Hanzal, seems to mesh just as well with Derek Stepan (not surprising) – and he’s done good things before as a fellow speedy winger when paired with Duclair. So while that’s not a traditional top line on a real NHL team, it works well here.
Max Domi has been shifted to center, and the Coyotes seem to like it enough so far – but the thing to watch here is for Brendan Perlini to move up the lineup, as he’s not a fourth liner and doesn’t belong there.
There’s really nothing that can be said about Arizona’s defensive corps while they still play Luke Schenn every night, but the return of Jakob Chychrun really can’t be understated. He’s been one of the team’s best players by a mile since returning from an off-season injury.
There’s no guarantee yet that Wedgewood is getting the nod in net, but Raanta played last night, so it seems like the most logical possibility. He’s been a solid backup so far, but not having Raanta is a clear advantage for Toronto.
Don’t expect Zac Rinaldo (suspension) or Brad Richardson (injury: ‘not serious, but more than day-to-day) to be in the lineup.
NOTES
- Both Toronto and Arizona had ugly games leading into the holiday break, albeit for very different reasons. Toronto was plagued by some sloppy play and minor penalties, while Arizona fell victim to the karma gods punishing them for employing Zac Rinaldo in a game that wrapped up with nearly 80 PIM combined. Arizona cleaned up their play significantly last night, but we have yet to see how Toronto will do coming back from the break.
- Speaking of Zac Rinaldo, the NHL saved Roman Polak from himself, and Rinaldo is suspended right now. No one wanted that inevitable fight, no one needed that inevitable fight, and now it quite literally cannot happen unless Polak gets scratched and starts a brawl in the press box. Which, actually, I may want and need, as I’ll be sitting there, trying to get #good #viewings of Andersen.
- He’s slowed down since his white-hot start, but the Leafs should still watch for Clayton Keller. The rookie boasts 13 goals and 30 points in 39 games, made all the more impressive by the fact that he’s pulled that off on a team that almost didn’t win until November. He had a brief cold spell, but is now back to a point-per-game pace over his last six appearances.
Personal note of fun: I was excited to cover this game this year, since I normally take the Leafs game off and watch it in the stands (or am still travelling with family for the holidays). It takes on an extra special note for me, though, because it’s the team’s first game since hearing of Johnny Bower’s passing on Boxing Day. Getting to cover the team right now means so much more.
Make the Pint your home for all things game day. We give away a free pound of wings during every game either home or away. 4.40$ mugs of Bud and Bud Lights
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