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LGD: Dealing with the Devils (again)

By Jeff Veillette

Jan 6, 2017, 13:08 ESTUpdated:

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The last time the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New Jersey Devils faced off, the red and black did the blue and white a solid favour and let Auston Matthews tear down his scoring wall. That was just about the only positive in the game, as the Leafs saw their 3-0 lead evaporate and turn into a shootout loss.

Tonight, they’ll be looking for the full two points as they aim to jump into a playoff spot.

The Leafs

Toronto Maple Leafs lines courtesy of Daily Faceoff

LW	C	RW
Leo Komarov	Nazem Kadri	William Nylander
Zach Hyman	Auston Matthews	Connor Brown
James van Riemsdyk	Tyler Bozak	Mitchell Marner
Matt Martin	Frederik Gauthier	Nikita Soshnikov

Defensive Pairings
Morgan Rielly	Nikita Zaitsev
Jake Gardiner	Connor Carrick
Matt Hunwick	Roman Polak

The Leafs have been playing well of late, and they’ve been getting results, and everybody’s healthy. Why mess with that? That’s the feeling right now, and while there was a quick morning skate scare with Morgan Rielly getting a day off, it appears to just be a maintenance situation and he’ll be good to go today.

The Devils

New Jersey Devils lines courtesy of Daily Faceoff

LW	C	RW
Michael Cammalleri	Adam Henrique	Kyle Palmieri
Taylor Hall	Pavel Zacha	P.A. Parenteau
Sergey Kalinin	Travis Zajac	Nick Lappin
Miles Wood	Devante Smith-Pelly	Beau Bennett

Defensive Pairings
Damon Severson	Kyle Quincey
Jon Merrill	Ben Lovejoy
Seth Helgeson	Steven Santini

That first line was the one that really did the Leafs in last game, and with this one also being in New Jersey, they’ll have the opportunity they need to pick their matchups. The hope will be that there was a bit of luck involved and that a well-rested Leafs roster is more prepared to contain them and the rest of the squad.

Starting Goaltenders

Last time the two teams faced off, Jhonas Enroth started for the Leafs and it didn’t go so well. Today, it’ll be Frederik Andersen. He’s been a workhorse for Toronto this year, but his first two starts of 2016 haven’t gone great, with him allowing 10 goals on 66 shots. I’d likely chalk that up to an outdoor game and an outlier night; hopefully he can bounce back.

Cory Schneider will return to the net for the Devils, like he did in the last matchup and like he does in most games. He had a slow start to his year but has stopped 51 of 52 in his last pair of games. He gave up four in 31 in their last game but ultimately got the W.

What To Look Out For

Don’t take off the gas at any point in this one. I mean it. The last matchup was one of the worst of these “epic collapse” games this year and the players can’t be thinking about coughing up the lead again. Play every minute like you’re down by two, desperately needing to get another.

Also, I hope everybody has a secret shootout move up their sleeve, just in case. Schneider proved he knew the book last time, even re-watching footage before it all went down. Don’t give him that chance again.

Puck drop for tonight’s game is at 7:30 EST. Catch it on Sportsnet Ontario.