The Leafs looked pretty good in Nashville. This was helped by Nashville looking absolutely terrible, but damned if that’s going to stop me from being optimistic about what the Leafs will do to the Stars tonight.

Crushing a bit of that optimism is the fact that the Stars are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, although they only have a 9-9-0 record against the Eastern Conference, so maybe they’ve just been beating up on the lifeless Pacific Division this year.

Either way, it’s another important game (they pretty much all will be from here on out) and we can hope the Leafs will take advantage of being still relatively rested and looking to build a win streak.

Lineups

LW	C	RW	Forwards
ZACH HYMAN Rating: 74.6#30 LW	AUSTON MATTHEWS Rating: 82.9#3 C	MITCH MARNER Rating: 78.3#8 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 78.61#5 FL1
ALEXANDER KERFOOT Rating: 71.8#83 LW	JOHN TAVARES Rating: 78.9#12 C	WILLIAM NYLANDER Rating: 76.6#13 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 75.76#6 FL2
ANDREAS JOHNSSON Rating: 72.1#72 LW	PIERRE ENGVALL Rating: 73.2#68 C	KASPERI KAPANEN Rating: 72.0#67 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 72.46#7 FL3
TREVOR MOORE Rating: 70.5#111 LW	FREDERIK GAUTHIER Rating: 70.5#145 C	JASON SPEZZA Rating: 69.7#112 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 70.25#24 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS	Defense
JAKE MUZZIN Rating: 73.8#35 LD	JUSTIN HOLL Rating: 71.5#19 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 72.67#26 DL1
TRAVIS DERMOTT Rating: 71.8#77 LD	TYSON BARRIE Rating: 76.0#12 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 73.91#11 DL2
RASMUS SANDIN Rating: 73.9#34 LD	CODY CECI Rating: 70.7#91 RD

LW	C	RW	Forwards
JAMIE BENN Rating: 74.2#36 LW	TYLER SEGUIN Rating: 76.7#26 C	ALEXANDER RADULOV Rating: 75.2#24 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 75.37#14 FL1
DENIS GURIANOV Rating: 71.9#76 LW	ROOPE HINTZ Rating: 74.4#34 C	JOE PAVELSKI Rating: 73.9#55 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 73.38#21 FL2
ANDREW COGLIANO Rating: 69.3#168 LW	RADEK FAKSA Rating: 71.2#122 C	BLAKE COMEAU Rating: 69.5#113 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 70.00#29 FL3
MATTIAS JANMARK Rating: 70.3#152 LW	JASON DICKINSON Rating: 70.7#135 C	COREY PERRY Rating: 69.8#107 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 70.28#23 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS	Defense
ESA LINDELL Rating: 75.3#15 LD	JOHN KLINGBERG Rating: 77.5#5 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 76.41#4 DL1
MIRO HEISKANEN Rating: 76.7#1 LD	ROMAN POLAK Rating: 71.5#78 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 74.08#7 DL2
JAMIE OLEKSIAK Rating: 71.8#78 LD	STEPHEN JOHNS Rating: 72.6#56 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 72.20#15 DL3

Is it just me or does Dallas look a lot like one line and three defensemen? Oh yeah, and they have good goaltending. That makes a difference.

Here are five things to watch for tonight.

1. Dust off those Polak jokes

Yep. Somehow he’s still in the league and even more shockingly he’s playing in the top four on a playoff team. This doesn’t make him good, but I feel it’s worth noting. The good news is the Leafs essentially have two first lines and one of them will get the Polak matchup. It’s times like this I wish the Stars didn’t have goaltending that makes up for their Polak usage.

2. Is Kapanen broken?

Kapanen left after the first period in Nashville, but was back in practice and appears to be ready to go for tonight. That’s good on a couple of fronts.

He’s a good player who can help the Leafs win games.
He’s the best trade bait we have.

It will be interesting to see how well he’s feeling tonight, and also if the Leafs become motivated to make a move sooner rather than later to avoid their injury luck catching up with them.

Personally I don’t see the Leafs making trades until the 11th hour because it will be important to establish if they are in the playoffs, on the bubble, or see themselves as out.

3. Jason Spezza’s return

Maybe this isn’t the same fanfare of facing off against Ottawa on opening night, but it’s a chance for Spezza to return to a team that let him walk, only to have him find a modest level of success with the Leafs this year. I like Spezza and chances are you do too, and it would be nice to see him have a big game tonight and possibly receive some acknowledgement from Dallas.

4. Andersen watch

A good game Monday night is just the start of what the Leafs need from Andersen. He still let in one iffy goal, but if he’s limiting it to one I don’t know how much more can be reasonably expected, it’s going to happen from time to time.

The loaded first line for the Stars will be an interesting test, and hopefully Andersen passes. He’s always been strong against Western Conference opponents, so I’m optimistic.