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LGD: Playoff rest
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Photo credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
connorbromley
Mar 30, 2018, 15:44 EDT
The Leafs are going to the Stanley Cup playoffs! Which means we have five games to play that mean nothing in the grand scheme of things.
Tonight’s game at the ACC features the New York Islanders and quite possibly the last time John Tavares comes to Toronto with his current team.
The Islanders currently sit bottom of the Metro division having lost 36 games since December – they have won 17 in that time.
So what went wrong? Well the whole ‘no defence or goaltending but plenty of scoring’ method has not worked. Essentially the Islanders play a kamikaze game leaving them with a potent offense but a disery defence.
This season the Leafs have defeated the Isles twice – including a 5-0 victory in Brooklyn back in January.
Anywho I digress – here are today’s projected lines:

Leafs

LWCRW
Zach Hyman

ZACH HYMAN
Rating: 72.5#108 LW
Auston Matthews

AUSTON MATTHEWS
Rating: 82.1#7 C
William Nylander

WILLIAM NYLANDER
Rating: 77.4#15 RW
Patrick Marleau

PATRICK MARLEAU
Rating: 74.5#36 LW
Nazem Kadri

NAZEM KADRI
Rating: 78.2#29 C
Mitch Marner

MITCH MARNER
Rating: 75.7#49 RW
James van Riemsdyk

JAMES VAN RIEMSDYK
Rating: 79.0#10 LW
Tyler Bozak

TYLER BOZAK
Rating: 73.7#77 C
Connor Brown

CONNOR BROWN
Rating: 71.1#71 RW
Andreas Johnsson

ANDREAS JOHNSSON
Rating: 72.7#55 LW
Tomas Plekanec

TOMAS PLEKANEC
Rating: 71.2#150 C
Kasperi Kapanen

KASPERI KAPANEN
Rating: 71.6#60 RW
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Morgan Rielly

MORGAN RIELLY
Rating: 77.0#35 LD
Ron Hainsey

RON HAINSEY
Rating: 72.5#118 RD
Jake Gardiner

JAKE GARDINER
Rating: 76.4#38 LD
Nikita Zaitsev

NIKITA ZAITSEV
Rating: 72.9#103 RD
Travis Dermott

TRAVIS DERMOTT
Rating: 74.0#67 LD
Roman Polak

ROMAN POLAK
Rating: 70.1#226 RD
1ST

Islanders

LWCRW
Anders Lee

ANDERS LEE
Rating: 76.5#41 LW
John Tavares

JOHN TAVARES
Rating: 78.8#25 C
Jordan Eberle

JORDAN EBERLE
Rating: 76.3#23 RW
Anthony Beauvillier

ANTHONY BEAUVILLIER
Rating: 71.6#79 LW
Mathew Barzal

MATHEW BARZAL
Rating: 76.8#38 C
Tanner Fritz

TANNER FRITZ
Rating: 71.3#147 RW
Andrew Ladd

ANDREW LADD
Rating: 71.2#89 LW
Brock Nelson

BROCK NELSON
Rating: 72.0#116 C
Cal Clutterbuck

CAL CLUTTERBUCK
Rating: 69.0#100 RW
Ross Johnston

ROSS JOHNSTON
Rating: 70.8#100 LW
Chris Wagner

CHRIS WAGNER
Rating: 68.1#110 C
Dennis Seidenberg

DENNIS SEIDENBERG
Rating: 70.1#224 RW
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Nick Leddy

NICK LEDDY
Rating: 71.8#156 LD
Johnny Boychuk

JOHNNY BOYCHUK
Rating: 72.2#128 RD
Thomas Hickey

THOMAS HICKEY
Rating: 71.6#166 LD
Ryan Pulock

RYAN PULOCK
Rating: 69.1#245 RD
Brandon Davidson

BRANDON DAVIDSON
Rating: 69.4#236 LD
Adam Pelech

ADAM PELECH
Rating: 69.7#233 RD

Notes:

  • The Leafs need one point tonight to reach 100 for the first time since 2003/04. It would also be just the third time in franchise history they reached this milestone
  • The Islanders need to pick up five more points to get to 79 and make sure that this season is not the worst since 2011/12.
  • It will be interesting to see if the Leafs give some rest to players – and give players like Matt Martin, Josh Leivo, Garrett Sparks and Dominic Moore the chance to impress before the playoffs begin.

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