LGD: The Great Regression

9 years ago

Tonight the Monsters of Regression face-off once again. The 2013-14 regressors, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the 2014-15 regressors, the Colorado Avalanche. The two teams are eerily similar to the extent that both jettisoned talented centers (Grabovski and Stastny) after their playoff season, and both for some reason thought aging, injured defenseman would be the answer for them this season (Robidas and Stuart).

Of course the biggest similarity was hot goaltending in front of poor defense, and neither of these teams have done much to remedy that defense issue. That should make tonights game fun to watch and if the two teams combine for less than 70 shots, I’ll be shocked.

The Leafs

Yeah, that game in Arizona was pretty bad, but things were going good before that, right? The Avs aren’t exactly the Blackhawks, but they are similar to a broken down version of the Blue Jackets and the Sabres, so maybe the Leafs can play them that way. At the very least if the Leafs can avoid reverting to playing Bozak with Kessel I’d be happy. Kadri has been solid in that role. It would also be nice if Carlyle can find a way to play both Holland and Santorelli over 15 minutes a game.

Projected Lines via Daily Faceoff

Winnik – Kadri – Kessel

van Riemsdyk – Bozak – Clarkson

Komarov – Holland – Santorelli

Panik – Carrick – Ashton

Phaneuf – Franson

Rielly – Polak

Gardiner – Robidas

The Avs

What more can really be said about the Avs that Adrian Dater didn’t already cover in his book? The team has been completely fixed and they are as good as they have ever been. Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy only make sound decisions and bringing in Daniel Briere, Jarome Iginla, and Brad Stuart were unquestionably smart moves. That’s not to say there aren’t nice players on the Avs, and MacKinnon, O’Reilly, Landeskog, Duchene, and Barrie will give this team a lot to cheer about, especially once they add another good young player with their high draft pick this summer. For now, let’s enjoy one of the worst defenses in the league and assume the Leafs will leave Denver with two points tonight.

Projected Lines via Daily Faceoff

Landeskog – Duchene – MacKinnon

McGinn – O’Reilly – Iginla

Tanguay – Mitchell – Everberg

McLeod – Cliche- Talbot

Hejda – Johnson

Barrie –

Redmond- Holden

Starting Goaltenders

VS.

What to Watch For

Two teams who thought they were ready to take the next step but aren’t
Adrian Dater probably having another twitter meltdown if Leafs fans are doing their job
That MacKinnon kid is really good.
Hey look it’s John effin’ Mitchell! Guess he’s going to get a goal tonight
If the Leafs don’t get a goal every time that Avs 3rd defensive pairing is on the ice, then the Leafs forwards aren’t doing their job.
Fans of both teams try to figure out where they are on this chart

Finally…

Caption this photo (via @NHLHistoryGirl). Best caption in the comments section wins ten pieces of internet respect.