LGD: Shaking off the Rust
By Ryan Hobart
5 years agoTonight, the Leafs are taking on the Pittsburgh Penguins in Toronto for their second game back from the All-Star Break. Their first game back was yesterday against the Detroit Red Wings and ended in an unfortunate 3-2 overtime loss where the Leafs looked completely flat for most of the game.
They will aim to come with a little bit more energy for this game, but it won’t be easy given that they played last night. The Pengiuns also played last night, defeating the Ottawa Senators 5 to 3 in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins come in with a 28-17-6 record, winning 5 of their last 10 games, and both of their last two. The Leafs, in comparison, are 30-17-3, going 4-5-1 in their last 10.
The Leafs re-activated Tyler Ennis from the injured reserve, but he will not be present in tonight’s match as he was seen skating this morning with the spare defensemen.
Leafs Lines
The Leafs will likely run the same players they did in their previous game, but it wouldn’t be out of the question to see the Leafs shuffle things around as Andreas Johnsson gets more healthy, and after such a miserable performance last night.
For now, we’ll assume the only change is Garret Sparks starting in net, giving Frederik Andersen the night off on the back-to-back game.
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 PATRICK MARLEAU Rating: 73.0#64 LW |  AUSTON MATTHEWS Rating: 83.8#6 C |  MITCH MARNER Rating: 79.7#10 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 78.80#9 FL1 |
 ZACH HYMAN Rating: 72.6#68 LW |  JOHN TAVARES Rating: 81.9#10 C |  KASPERI KAPANEN Rating: 74.2#50 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 76.24#10 FL2 |
 CONNOR BROWN Rating: 71.1#92 LW |  NAZEM KADRI Rating: 79.3#25 C |  WILLIAM NYLANDER Rating: 75.5#36 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 75.30#1 FL3 |
 PAR LINDHOLM Rating: 70.9#97 LW |  FREDERIK GAUTHIER Rating: 68.7#184 C |  ANDREAS JOHNSSON Rating: 75.0#43 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.55#11 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 JAKE MUZZIN Rating: 76.6#16 LD |  MORGAN RIELLY Rating: 80.1#8 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 78.37#8 DL1 |
 JAKE GARDINER Rating: 77.0#12 LD |  NIKITA ZAITSEV Rating: 71.8#72 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 74.44#8 DL2 |
 TRAVIS DERMOTT Rating: 74.2#34 LD |  RON HAINSEY Rating: 72.9#47 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 73.56#5 DL3 |
| GOALIES | |
|---|---|
 GARRET SPARKS Rating: 70.2#46 G1 |  FREDERIK ANDERSEN Rating: 76.4#13 G2 |
Penguins Lines
Given the solid performance last night, it’s not expected that the Penguins will make any changes to their lineup except for Matt Murray getting the start, with Casey DeSmith getting the opportunity in net last night. The Penguins have been without star center Evgeni Malkin due to an Upper Body Injury, so newly acquired centers Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann get an opportunity higher in the lineup.
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 JAKE GUENTZEL Rating: 79.7#10 LW |  SIDNEY CROSBY Rating: 86.9#3 C |  DOMINIK SIMON Rating: 72.0#111 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 79.56#5 FL1 |
 BRYAN RUST Rating: 76.4#32 LW |  NICK BJUGSTAD Rating: 73.7#72 C |  PHIL KESSEL Rating: 78.4#17 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 76.16#11 FL2 |
 TANNER PEARSON Rating: 72.5#71 LW |  JARED MCCANN Rating: 72.1#109 C |  PATRIC HORNQVIST Rating: 77.5#23 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 74.06#3 FL3 |
 GARRETT WILSON Rating: 73.0#62 LW |  TEDDY BLUEGER |  MATT CULLEN Rating: 70.1#105 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.56#9 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 BRIAN DUMOULIN Rating: 74.8#27 LD |  KRIS LETANG Rating: 82.6#3 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 78.71#4 DL1 |
 OLLI MAATTA Rating: 72.4#66 LD |  JUUSO RIIKOLA Rating: 72.6#62 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 72.52#22 DL2 |
 MARCUS PETTERSSON Rating: 71.5#85 LD |  JACK JOHNSON Rating: 70.1#94 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 70.82#24 DL3 |
| GOALIES | |
|---|---|
 MATT MURRAY Rating: 73.8#24 G1 |  CASEY DESMITH Rating: 74.5#22 G2 |
Game Preview
The Penguins are a good team and sit in 2nd place in their division, and they will look to add some padding between themselves and the Blue Jackets, and pull ahead of the Capitals who are tied with them in points. For the Leafs, the important thing will be to get the engines going early and have some determination which they lacked last night.
Here are my three keys to the game:
- Victimize the 3rd pair
- The Penguins are unfortunate enough to be playing a 3rd pair of Pettersson and Johnson, one of the worst in the league. The Leafs need to use their depth to capitalize on that.
- Eliminate Crosby
- The Penguins biggest weapon will be the Crosby line, so gluing Rielly and Muzzin to them to try to shut them down will be important
- Be on the same page
- The Leafs were all over the place last night with tons of rust in their wheels. Tonight, the focus should be on making plays as a unit together, as it appears that they forgot how.
The game starts at 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on Hockey Night in Canada on CBC.
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