Oh look, there’s a Leafs game tonight

By Jon Steitzer
2 years agoAfter having only two games in the past 10 days, the Leafs are finally back at tonight in Ottawa.
The Leafs went into this most recent break a lot more favourably than the last one. Jack Campbell’s shutout has certainly given us a lot of hope that the recent skid is over, and now that they are facing the bottom of the division in the Senators, there’s no reason to believe that the good times won’t continue (except the Sens, along with the Jets have been the most difficult opponent for the Leafs this year.)
So here’s the deal. The Sens are going to bring their best game, and it turns out that Filip Gustavsson knows what he’s doing in net. As bizarre as it is that a goaltender named Gustavsson knows what he’s doing, the Leafs need to be prepared for an attempt at goalie-ing. On the upside of that equation is the Leafs will either be getting Gustavsson who just played last night, something that rarely goes well for goaltenders, or Anton Forsberg. Yes that Anton Forsberg who has lived on waivers for the entirety of the season. He’s had one successful game for the Sens AHL team this season, but other than that has just seen a bit of practice here and there on a handful of teams. If he starts, he’ll definitely be playing like a guy who has something to prove.
As for the Leafs, tonight’s game is probably about getting what they can out of their top two centers. Matthews has been in a wrist injury related goal slump, and John Tavares is still looking to reestablish himself as an offensive threat, although 9 goals, 27 points in 32 games isn’t the horrible catastrophe it’s being painted as.

Lineups
LW | C | RW |
---|---|---|
![]() WAYNE SIMMONDS Rating: 70.2#112 LW | ![]() AUSTON MATTHEWS Rating: 82.3#6 C | ![]() MITCH MARNER Rating: 76.6#18 RW |
![]() ALEX GALCHENYUK Rating: 70.8#115 LW | ![]() JOHN TAVARES Rating: 77.6#15 C | ![]() WILLIAM NYLANDER Rating: 76.1#23 RW |
![]() JOE THORNTON Rating: 72.3#74 LW | ![]() ALEXANDER KERFOOT Rating: 70.8#113 C | ![]() JASON SPEZZA Rating: 69.4#126 RW |
![]() ILYA MIKHEYEV Rating: 74.0#42 LW | ![]() PIERRE ENGVALL Rating: 71.0#98 C | ![]() ZACH HYMAN Rating: 74.6#33 RW |
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
---|---|
![]() MORGAN RIELLY Rating: 75.3#14 LD | ![]() T.J. BRODIE Rating: 74.2#27 RD |
![]() JAKE MUZZIN Rating: 75.1#17 LD | ![]() JUSTIN HOLL Rating: 72.0#61 RD |
![]() TRAVIS DERMOTT Rating: 71.7#83 LD | ![]() ZACH BOGOSIAN Rating: 71.4#76 RD |
LW | C | RW |
---|---|---|
![]() BRADY TKACHUK Rating: 75.0#27 LW | ![]() JOSH NORRIS | ![]() EVGENII DADONOV Rating: 73.1#53 RW |
![]() TIM STÜTZLE | ![]() CHRIS TIERNEY Rating: 72.2#77 C | ![]() DRAKE BATHERSON |
![]() RYAN DZINGEL Rating: 70.2#117 LW | ![]() COLIN WHITE Rating: 70.3#129 C | ![]() NICK PAUL Rating: 71.2#105 RW |
![]() ALEX FORMENTON | ![]() CLARK BISHOP | ![]() CONNOR BROWN Rating: 72.6#66 RW |
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
---|---|
![]() THOMAS CHABOT Rating: 74.5#23 LD | ![]() NIKITA ZAITSEV Rating: 70.5#97 RD |
![]() MIKE REILLY Rating: 72.4#64 LD | ![]() ARTEM ZUB |
![]() CHRISTIAN WOLANIN Rating: 71.8#67 LD | ![]() JOSH BROWN |
Starting Goaltenders
The Leafs have confirmed Jack Campbell will get the go again, and frankly why wouldn’t he after his shutout last game, the injury to Andersen, and the next best option being Michael Hutchinson. The Senators are a bit more of a mystery with nothing official announced yet, but as I mentioned above, Gustavsson played last game, and the Sens could go to Anton Forsberg for his first NHL start of the season.
Start time for tonight’s game will be at 7PM ET, and it can be found on TSN 4.
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