Maple Leafs Pregame #58: 5 things to watch for against Dallas
By Jon Steitzer
4 years agoIt feels like the Leafs just played Dallas. That’s fine. They also just beat Dallas and after doing some hard hitting analysis, I’ve determined that wins are good and the Leafs should want more of them.
The Stars have picked up wins in their last two games, but are a Babcockian 5-4-1 over their last 10. Also, assuming Andersen isn’t ready to go tonight, it will be a chance for Jack Campbell to face the team that drafted him and spent half a decade ruining him before his career got back on track. In his only other game against the Stars, Campbell put up a .967 save percentage, and allowed one goal in the win, so maybe sticking with the hot hand wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Lineup
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 WILLIAM NYLANDER Rating: 77.1#8 LW |  AUSTON MATTHEWS Rating: 83.1#3 C |  MITCH MARNER Rating: 78.6#7 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 79.64#3 FL1 |
 ALEXANDER KERFOOT Rating: 71.4#92 LW |  JOHN TAVARES Rating: 79.5#14 C |  ZACH HYMAN Rating: 73.9#39 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 74.92#7 FL2 |
 ANDREAS JOHNSSON Rating: 72.8#66 LW |  JASON SPEZZA Rating: 71.5#104 C |  KASPERI KAPANEN Rating: 71.7#82 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 72.00#17 FL3 |
 KYLE CLIFFORD Rating: 70.4#117 LW |  PIERRE ENGVALL Rating: 72.3#83 C |  PONTUS ABERG Rating: 70.5#110 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 71.08#11 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 TRAVIS DERMOTT Rating: 71.1#89 LD |  TYSON BARRIE Rating: 75.5#18 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 73.32#18 DL1 |
 JAKE MUZZIN Rating: 73.9#34 LD |  JUSTIN HOLL Rating: 72.1#73 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.00#20 DL2 |
 RASMUS SANDIN Rating: 73.6#40 LD |  TIMOTHY LILJEGREN Rating: 73.1#44 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 73.36#8 DL3 |
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 ROOPE HINTZ Rating: 74.2#38 LW |  TYLER SEGUIN Rating: 76.1#26 C |  COREY PERRY Rating: 70.9#99 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 73.76#26 FL1 |
 JAMIE BENN Rating: 75.0#31 LW |  JASON DICKINSON Rating: 71.0#122 C |  DENIS GURIANOV Rating: 71.8#80 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 72.58#22 FL2 |
 JOEL KIVIRANTA Rating: 73.2#53 LW |  MATTIAS JANMARK Rating: 70.7#111 C |  ALEXANDER RADULOV Rating: 76.2#15 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 73.35#3 FL3 |
 ANDREW COGLIANO Rating: 69.8#126 LW |  RADEK FAKSA Rating: 71.1#118 C |  BLAKE COMEAU Rating: 70.4#114 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.44#16 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 ESA LINDELL Rating: 75.4#13 LD |  JOHN KLINGBERG Rating: 77.2#10 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 76.29#3 DL1 |
 MIRO HEISKANEN Rating: 76.6#7 LD |  STEPHEN JOHNS Rating: 74.1#32 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 75.32#5 DL2 |
 JAMIE OLEKSIAK Rating: 71.8#77 LD |  ANDREJ SEKERA Rating: 72.0#74 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 71.91#16 DL3 |
Looks like no Roman Polak tonight. Dang. I was so looking forward to the tribute montage of him flipping the puck over the boards for delay of game penalties.
Here’s five things to watch for.
1. Slumpbusters Inc.
Tyler Seguin has gone 17 games without scoring a goal. Tyler Seguin was drafted with a Leafs draft pick. Tyler Seguin might have a big night.
2. Campbell or Andersen
What about Hutchinson? Like I said above, Campbell has a bit of history with the Stars, and the one time he faced them, he did pretty darn well. If there is even a sliver of possibility that Andersen needs more time, they should go with Campbell, who also seems to be the hot hand.
3. Matthews chasing Pastrnak
Pastrnak’s hat trick makes the Rocket Richard race pretty darn interesting again, as the Leafs vs. Bruins factor probably makes us a bit more invested in it, as does the fact that they are competing with (un?)arguably the greatest goal scorer of all time in Alex Ovechkin.
I get that we mainly want the win, but Matthews goals lead to wins, so let’s have our cake and eat it too.
4. The Money Line
Nylander-Matthews-Marner might seem like a fun idea, but in practice it really isn’t and I kinda want it to go away. I’m liking that Keefe isn’t afraid to shake things up, but this doesn’t seem to be it, although the Kerfoot-Tavares-Hyman line hasn’t looked bad at all.
I for one welcome the line blend, and would possibly like to see more of Nylander on the left side, but perhaps with the opportunity to reintroduce Kapanen into the top six, but playing on the right side where he is much more comfortable.
5. Scoreboard watching
Last night was pretty uneventful from a Leafs fate perspective, the Bruins win keeps them at the top of the division, and might set up a Tampa vs. Toronto first round, which could be a fun change of pace (ignoring how good Tampa is.)
Tonight is a pretty full schedule, and features a few games to keep an eye on. The most obvious one is the Panthers vs. Flyers game, which will hopefully see the Flyers win in regulation. The Blue Jackets face the Sabres tonight, so that seems like the BJs will get some breathing room in the wild card race, although they are without Seth Jones and Cam Atkinson for a while. Also the Islanders play Nashville, so Go Perds!
The Hurricanes have the night off.
Best case scenario the Leafs end the night with a four point lead over the Panthers for 3rd in the Atlantic. Worst case scenario they are tied with the Panthers for points, with Florida having a game at hand, and they find themselves two points back of the final wild card spot. Fun.
Game time is 7PM ET and it can be seen on Sportsnet Ontario
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