The Toronto Maple Leafs are back at it tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets. They come into this game on a one game winning streak after finally snapping their five game skid with an overtime win over the St. Louis Blues.
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Tonight, they’ll try to stretch that streak to two games and get themselves moving in the right direction. Over the last two games, the Maple Leafs look like they’ve cleaned up some of their issues and are playing some of their best hockey of the season. Obviously, they’ll need to build on it and stack more wins together. But if they can keep this going, they should be able to climb the standings, especially with things so tight in the East, and finally get back into a playoff spot. It still needs to be a one game at a time approach, and that starts tonight against the Blue Jackets.
Maple Leafs News:
Now on to Maple Leafs news. Today brought a few updates on the injury front. Head coach Craig Berube said the injury to Anthony Stolarz “was worse than we thought” and there’s no timeline for his return. As for Auston Matthews, he joined the team at practice for the first time since he was injured. Berube said “It’s good to see him out there with us and just talking to him, he’s feeling a lot better. I thought he was shooting the puck pretty well, so that’s a good sign.” There’s still no timeline for his return.
Nicolas Roy was also back on the ice ahead of the morning skate for the first time since his injury. Chris Tanev skated as well, though he remains “a ways away.” Lastly, it looks like Scott Laughton is ready to return to the lineup tonight. There’s still no word on whether Matthew Knies will be in.
Team Stats
Toronto Maple Leafs
Season Record: 9-9-2 (20 pts)
Top Scorers:
- William Nylander – 9 G, 18 A, 27 P
- John Tavares – 11 G, 14 A, 25 P
- Matthew Knies – 5 G, 17 A, 22 P
- Morgan Rielly – 3 G, 13 A, 16 P
- Auston Matthews – 9 G, 5 A, 14 P
Goalie Stats:
Anthony Stolarz – 6-5-1, 3.51 GAA, .884 SV%
Dennis Hildeby – 2-0-2, 3.81 GAA, .904 SV%
Joseph Woll – 1-1-0, 2.44 GAA, .934 SV%
St. Louis Blues
Season Record: 6-9-4 (20 pts)
Top Scorers:
- Kirill Marchenko – 8 G, 14 A, 22 P
- Dmitri Voronkov – 8 G, 8 A, 16 P
- Zach Werenski – 6 G, 10 A, 16 P
- Charlie Coyle – 3 G, 11 A, 14 P
- Adam Fantilli – 6 G, 7 A, 13 P
Goalie Stats:
Jet Greaves – 6-4-2, 2.79 GAA, .904 SV%
Elvis Merzlikins – 4-4-, 3.37 GAA, .900 SV%
Projected Lineups
(Subject to change before puck drop)
7 p.m. ET; TVAS, TSN4, FDSNOH
Maple Leafs projected lineup
William Nylander — John Tavares — Calle Jarnkrok
Bobby McMann — Max Domi — Nicholas Robertson
Easton Cowan — Scott Laughton — Steven Lorentz
Dakota Joshua — Jacob Quillan — Matias Maccelli
Morgan Rielly — Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Simon Benoit — Jake McCabe
Dakota Mermis — Troy Stecher
Joseph Woll
Dennis Hildeby
Scratched: Philippe Myers, Sammy Blais
Injured: Chris Tanev (upper body), Auston Matthews (lower body), Anthony Stolarz (upper body), Brandon Carlo (lower body), Nicolas Roy (upper body), Matthew Knies (lower body)
Blue Jackets projected lineup
Miles Wood — Sean Monahan — Kent Johnson
Dmitri Voronkov — Adam Fantilli — Kirill Marchenko
Cole Sillinger — Charlie Coyle — Mathieu Olivier
Yegor Chinakhov — Luca Del Bel Belluz — Isac Lundestrom
Zach Werenski — Ivan Provorov
Denton Mateychuk — Damon Severson
Jake Christiansen — Dante Fabbro
Jet Greaves
Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched: Dysin Mayo, Zach Aston-Reese
Injured: Erik Gudbranson (hip), Boone Jenner (upper body)
