It’s been well over a week since the Leafs last played hockey – or so I choose to believe. Tonight, they might play some in Nashville against the Predators. One can only hope, at least.

The Leafs have lost three of their last four and have surrendered a staggering 23 goals over that span. It’s remarkable that they even mustered a win in there, but let’s hope the days of getting kicked up and down the ice are behind us.

Toronto is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Nashville – Thanks to OddsShark for this fact

Leafs Lines

C	RW	Forwards
ZACH HYMAN Rating: 74.7#38 LW	JOHN TAVARES Rating: 82.4#11 C	MITCH MARNER Rating: 79.1#13 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 78.71#10 FL1
ANDREAS JOHNSSON Rating: 76.6#25 LW	AUSTON MATTHEWS Rating: 84.4#6 C	WILLIAM NYLANDER Rating: 75.9#35 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 78.97#3 FL2
PATRICK MARLEAU Rating: 73.7#52 LW	NAZEM KADRI Rating: 78.0#32 C	KASPERI KAPANEN Rating: 73.9#51 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 75.21#2 FL3
TREVOR MOORE Rating: 73.2#63 LW	NIC PETAN Rating: 69.2#178 C	CONNOR BROWN Rating: 71.1#97 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 71.13#13 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS	Defense
MORGAN RIELLY Rating: 80.5#5 LD	RON HAINSEY Rating: 73.7#42 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 77.08#13 DL1
JAKE MUZZIN Rating: 76.3#19 LD	NIKITA ZAITSEV Rating: 71.3#83 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 73.84#15 DL2
MARTIN MARINCIN Rating: 71.1#93 LD	IGOR OZHIGANOV Rating: 71.5#81 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 71.33#17 DL3

Kasperi Kapanen is back! He missed the entirety of the Leafs nightmare week with a concussion, so lucky him.
Tyler Ennis is out, while Connor Brown stays — you know the drill.
Justin Holl is out after appearing in back-to-back games. Igor Ozhiganov takes his place.
No Jake Gardiner (back) and Travis Dermott (shoulder). The former’s prognosis has not looked good at all, while Dermott should hopefully be back soon-ish (fingers crossed).

Predators Lines

LW	C	RW	Forwards
FILIP FORSBERG Rating: 80.0#11 LW	RYAN JOHANSEN Rating: 75.8#44 C	VIKTOR ARVIDSSON Rating: 79.8#11 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 78.51#11 FL1
MIKAEL GRANLUND Rating: 76.4#26 LW	NICK BONINO Rating: 72.8#86 C	WAYNE SIMMONDS Rating: 71.7#84 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 73.66#21 FL2
CALLE JARNKROK Rating: 72.7#88 LW	COLTON SISSONS Rating: 73.9#68 C	CRAIG SMITH Rating: 75.6#46 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 74.09#9 FL3
BRIAN BOYLE Rating: 72.3#98 LW	KYLE TURRIS Rating: 72.8#85 C	ROCCO GRIMALDI Rating: 72.1#74 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 72.43#4 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS	Defense
ROMAN JOSI Rating: 82.7#1 LD	RYAN ELLIS Rating: 80.1#8 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 81.41#1 DL1
MATTIAS EKHOLM Rating: 77.2#13 LD	P.K. SUBBAN Rating: 79.2#11 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 78.16#1 DL2
MATT IRWIN Rating: 70.4#112 LD	YANNICK WEBER Rating: 70.1#93 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 70.26#24 DL3

How much money do you have on Brian Boyle potting one tonight?
Is that fourth line centre Kyle Turris?! Since when did the Preds get so deep down the middle?
No Zac Rinaldo (lol) or Dan Hamhuis for the Preds tonight. Otherwise, they’re fully healthy.

Who’s Hot

…Neither team, for starters. The Preds come into this game winners of their last two, but only after dropping five of their previous eight contests, with all three wins coming in the shootout.

With both teams getting down to the stretch run – Nashville with 9 games left and Toronto with 10 – whoever comes out on top of this one should have a major boost of confidence moving forward. The Leafs are still chasing a very real potential for home ice advantage in the playoffs, while the Preds sure would love to leapfrog the Jets for the Central Division lead, and avoid St. Louis in the first round.

Starting Goalies

For the Leafs, Frederik Andersen returns to the crease. He’s down to a .918 on the season after a catastrophic week that saw him get yanked twice and allow six goals in the third game, so he’ll be looking to bounce back to his usual steady self tonight.
Pekka Rinne starts for Nashville. He’s sitting at a .913 on the season, and while it hasn’t been a Vezina-worth campaign for him by any means, he’s still got it.