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LGD: Firefighting
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Photo credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports
Ryan Hobart
Mar 4, 2019, 08:43 ESTUpdated: Mar 4, 2019, 16:08 EST
Tonight, the Leafs will take on a difficult opponent in the Calgary Flames. The Flames share the honors with Toronto of being among the best teams in the League this season. While the Leafs are 3rd in the Atlantic Division with 84 points, the Flames sit 1st in the Pacific Division with 89 points.
This will undoubtedly be a hard-fought contest at the Saddledome in Calgary.
Toronto comes into this game with a 6-3-1 record in the last 10 games, and Calgary’s record is slightly better at 7-2-1.
Led by Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Matt Tkachuk and a whole host of other great forwards and defenders, the key weakness in Calgary is their somewhat inept goaltending in Mike Smith. As a team, the Flames have a very mediocre 19th best save percentage this year. This will be an important weakness for the Leafs to exploit, being the 3rd highest shooting percentage team in the league.
Undoubtedly the Leafs fans out in Alberta will come out in full force as they always do, swallowing up the seats in the foreign arena. Although, with the Flames being so good this season, perhaps this time we’ll see a near-even contingent of Flames fans there as well.

Leafs Lines

Mike Babcock confirmed yesterday that Tyler Ennis will draw back into the lineup in replacement of Nic Petan. It can also be assumed that Frederik Andersen will get the start after having the day off yesterday and Garret Sparks starting the Thursday night game against the Islanders.
LWCRWForwards
Zach Hyman

ZACH HYMAN
Rating: 74.8#38 LW
John Tavares

JOHN TAVARES
Rating: 82.0#11 C
Mitch Marner

MITCH MARNER
Rating: 79.3#16 RW
FL1 Rating
Rating: 78.68#16 FL1
Andreas Johnsson

ANDREAS JOHNSSON
Rating: 76.1#32 LW
Auston Matthews

AUSTON MATTHEWS
Rating: 84.2#5 C
Kasperi Kapanen

KASPERI KAPANEN
Rating: 74.5#43 RW
FL2 Rating
Rating: 78.29#3 FL2
Patrick Marleau

PATRICK MARLEAU
Rating: 74.0#47 LW
William Nylander

WILLIAM NYLANDER
Rating: 76.0#47 C
Connor Brown

CONNOR BROWN
Rating: 70.8#95 RW
FL3 Rating
Rating: 73.56#8 FL3
Tyler Ennis

TYLER ENNIS
Rating: 72.5#78 LW
Frederik Gauthier

FREDERIK GAUTHIER
Rating: 69.9#163 C
Trevor Moore

TREVOR MOORE
Rating: 73.5#54 RW
FL4 Rating
Rating: 71.98#4 FL4
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGSDefense
Morgan Rielly

MORGAN RIELLY
Rating: 79.8#6 LD
Ron Hainsey

RON HAINSEY
Rating: 72.9#53 RD
DL1 Rating
Rating: 76.39#10 DL1
Jake Muzzin

JAKE MUZZIN
Rating: 76.1#17 LD
Nikita Zaitsev

NIKITA ZAITSEV
Rating: 70.7#87 RD
DL2 Rating
Rating: 73.43#20 DL2
Martin Marincin

MARTIN MARINCIN
Rating: 71.4#87 LD
Igor Ozhiganov

IGOR OZHIGANOV
Rating: 71.8#75 RD
DL3 Rating
Rating: 71.59#18 DL3

Flames Lines

CRWForwards
Johnny Gaudreau

JOHNNY GAUDREAU
Rating: 81.4#8 LW
Sean Monahan

SEAN MONAHAN
Rating: 79.3#23 C
Elias Lindholm

ELIAS LINDHOLM
Rating: 78.5#29 RW
FL1 Rating
Rating: 79.72#8 FL1
Matthew Tkachuk

MATTHEW TKACHUK
Rating: 78.4#16 LW
Mikael Backlund

MIKAEL BACKLUND
Rating: 76.5#44 C
Michael Frolik

MICHAEL FROLIK
Rating: 74.2#47 RW
FL2 Rating
Rating: 76.35#11 FL2
Sam Bennett

SAM BENNETT
Rating: 71.6#115 LW
Mark Jankowski

MARK JANKOWSKI
Rating: 72.6#89 C
Austin Czarnik

AUSTIN CZARNIK
Rating: 73.3#72 RW
FL3 Rating
Rating: 72.50#14 FL3
Andrew Mangiapane

ANDREW MANGIAPANE
Rating: 72.5#77 LW
Derek Ryan

DEREK RYAN
Rating: 72.7#85 C
Garnet Hathaway

GARNET HATHAWAY
Rating: 70.6#101 RW
FL4 Rating
Rating: 71.91#7 FL4
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGSDefense
Mark Giordano

MARK GIORDANO
Rating: 81.0#3 LD
T.J. Brodie

T.J. BRODIE
Rating: 78.0#18 RD
DL1 Rating
Rating: 79.49#4 DL1
Noah Hanifin

NOAH HANIFIN
Rating: 75.9#21 LD
Travis Hamonic

TRAVIS HAMONIC
Rating: 73.5#40 RD
DL2 Rating
Rating: 74.71#10 DL2
Oliver Kylington

OLIVER KYLINGTON
Rating: 71.8#11 LD
Rasmus Andersson

RASMUS ANDERSSON
Rating: 73.1#49 RD
DL3 Rating
Rating: 72.43#11 DL3

Preview

This battle between Western Canada’s team and the rest of Canada’s team will be an exciting contest as a showoff of skill. The Flames have been surging this season and have come from relative mediocrity to contender-ship.
With the Leafs’ defense in shambles while bemoaning the loss of Jake Gardiner and Travis Dermott, the Leafs will be leaving the puck movement to the likes of Martin Marincin and Nikita Zaitsev, unconventional candidates for that job to say the least.
The game starts at 9 p.m. Eastern time and will be aired on TSN4.