LGD: Mild West Extravaganza, The Finale
By ThatsKappy
5 years agoEveryone awake?
Tonight is the last of the late nights, we promise. The Leafs are in Anaheim tonight, to take on the less-than-mighty Ducks for the first time this season.
Coming off of an impressive 5-3 win last night, the Leafs look to keep on rollin’ on the road, where they’ve now gone 8-1-0.
At A Glance
Record: 13-6-0 (2nd)
Goal Differential: +18 (T-1st)
Pts Percentage: .684 (T-3rd)
Record:
Record: 8-9-3 (23rd)
Goal Differential: -15 (29th)
Pts Percentage: .475 (26th)
It’s a tale of two teams going in opposite directions tonight. Not only are the Ducks an aging group of questionable talents, but they remain the physical incarnation of the Ghost of Leafs Past, with Randy Carlyle at the helm of a team that gets outshot to sin each night, and yet is somehow still flirting with .500 hockey.
The Leafs, meanwhile, continue their dominance, even without two thirds of their top line. Crazy what talent will do.
Leafs Lines
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 ZACH HYMAN Rating: 71.8#79 LW |  JOHN TAVARES Rating: 82.4#8 C |  MITCH MARNER Rating: 77.8#18 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 77.32#18 FL1 |
 PATRICK MARLEAU Rating: 73.9#46 LW |  NAZEM KADRI Rating: 78.1#28 C |  KASPERI KAPANEN Rating: 72.7#65 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 74.90#8 FL2 |
 ANDREAS JOHNSSON Rating: 73.2#57 LW |  PAR LINDHOLM Rating: 73.2#77 C |  CONNOR BROWN Rating: 70.8#95 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 72.42#13 FL3 |
 TYLER ENNIS Rating: 70.9#95 LW |  FREDERIK GAUTHIER Rating: 69.1#176 C |  JOSH LEIVO Rating: 72.3#73 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.77#15 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 MORGAN RIELLY Rating: 79.7#4 LD |  RON HAINSEY Rating: 72.9#44 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 76.32#8 DL1 |
 JAKE GARDINER Rating: 76.5#15 LD |  NIKITA ZAITSEV Rating: 71.0#79 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.75#14 DL2 |
 TRAVIS DERMOTT Rating: 73.9#35 LD |  IGOR OZHIGANOV Rating: 72.4#49 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 73.14#3 DL3 |
No morning skate for the Leafs today means that these lines are still somewhat up in the air, but it wouldn’t be crazy to expect the Leafs to roll with the same group. Babcock has stuck to his guns lately, and the team is winning, so why not?
Ducks Lines
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 RICKARD RAKELL Rating: 79.2#24 LW |  RYAN GETZLAF Rating: 79.8#19 C |  PONTUS ABERG Rating: 72.4#71 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 77.11#19 FL1 |
 ANDREW COGLIANO Rating: 71.3#134 LW |  RYAN KESLER Rating: 73.3#74 C |  JAKOB SILFVERBERG Rating: 74.4#42 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 73.00#26 FL2 |
 NICK RITCHIE Rating: 70.0#116 LW |  ADAM HENRIQUE Rating: 73.4#71 C |  ONDREJ KASE Rating: 74.2#42 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 72.55#12 FL3 |
 BRIAN GIBBONS Rating: 69.8#163 LW |  KALLE KOSSILA Rating: 72.3#107 C |  KIEFER SHERWOOD Rating: 72.4#72 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.49#6 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 HAMPUS LINDHOLM Rating: 75.9#19 LD |  BRANDON MONTOUR Rating: 75.5#27 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 75.67#13 DL1 |
 JACOB LARSSON Rating: 71.9#75 LD |  JOSH MANSON Rating: 75.0#30 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.45#17 DL2 |
 MARCUS PETTERSSON Rating: 71.2#89 LD |  ANDY WELINSKI Rating: 71.6#67 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.41#21 DL3 |
The Ducks are old, and the Ducks are hurt. No Perry, Bieksa or Fowler tonight, amongst others. Though the main focus here should be no Corey Perry, meaning one less piece of trash for the Leafs to be “worried” about.
Starting Goalies
Garret Sparks (2-1-0, .879 sv%) versus John Gibson (6-7-3, .927 sv%) is the likely matchup tonight. Sparks looks to rebound after a tough outing in Boston, and Gibson looks to continue being the embodiment of Jonathan Bernier and James Reimer.
Who’s Hot
John Tavares is on fire, with a goal in each of his last four games, and six points in the same span. Kasperi Kapanen also snapped a slump last night with a pair of goals, meaning he could be back to his dangerous self.
For the Ducks… well, nobody is really that hot. At least not up front. Jakob Silferberg and Pontus Aberg lead the team with five goals each(!!!).
Between the pipes, however, both Ryan Miller and John Gibson have been solid, boasting a .929 and .927, respectively. Carlyle hockey, baby!
Notes
- Tomorrow is Saturday, meaning most people have no excuse for not staying up to watch this game.
Puck Drop is at a slightly more reasonable 10pm tonight. You can catch all the action on TSN4.
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