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Toronto Maple Leafs (21-14-8, 16th in NHL) vs. Ottawa Senators (24-15-4, 11th in NHL)

Puck drop: 7:00 p.m. EST
Arena: Air Canada Centre
Watch: CBC


Game Day Notes

– A regulation win tonight would see the Maple Leafs overtake both the Senators and Bruins for second in the Atlantic Division with 52 points by virtue of the tiebreaker. The Leafs and Senators both currently have six games in hand on Boston.

– Defenceman Martin Marincin will re-enter the lineup for the first time since December 10. Excluding the game against Boston in which he left injured on his fourth shift, Marincin has posted four points in his last five appearances while averaging 17:14 a night. Marincin will play on a pairing with Nikita Zaitsev, while Jake Gardiner and Connor Carrick will reunite on the second pair.

Marincin split time with a variety of partners in his first 16 games of the season:

PartnerShared Even Strength TOICF% Together
Morgan Rielly57:4551.70%
Connor Carrick52:0640.90%
Nikita Zaitsev40:3557%
Matt Hunwick33:5450.80%
Roman Polak25:5439.20%
Jake Gardiner25:4564.60%

While we’re dealing with very small sample sizes, the possession numbers alongside Zaitsev are encouraging. Marincin’s return comes at a good time as the Leafs felt the effects of a thinned out blueline without Morgan Rielly on Thursday versus New York.

– The Senators enter the game coming off of a shutout victory over one of the best offenses in the league in the Columbus Blue Jackets, while the Leafs dropped a 5-2 decision to the New York Rangers in what head coach Mike Babcock called the team’s “least competitive night in a while.”

– The Leafs have scored four goals in the first two games of the season series (both in Ottawa), a 5-4 OT loss in the season opener and a 4-2 win last Saturday. Auston Matthews has five points in two games against the Senators in his young career. Nazem Kadri broke a seven-game pointless streak against the Senators with a two-goal game last Saturday.

Who’s Hot

  • Auston Matthews: 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in his past 13 games
  • James van Riemsdyk: 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in a nine-game point streak
  • Tyler Bozak: nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past seven games
  • Mitch Marner: eight points (all assists) in a five-game point streak
  • Nazem Kadri: eight points (five goals, three assists) in his past seven games
  • Kyle Turris: seven points (three goals, four assists) in a five-game point streak
  • Mike Hoffman: six points (four goals, two assists) in his past five games

Matchup Stats

Statistics courtesy of SportingCharts.com

StatOttTor
Points5250
Record %0.6050.581
Home Winning %0.6090.571
Away Winning %0.5290.571
Shootout Winning %0.750.167
Goal Differential Per Game00.23
Shot Differential Per Game-1.65-0.19
Hits Per Game26.424.5
PIM Per Game10.711.2
Opponent PIM Per Game10.411.4
Goals Per Game2.563.09
Even Strength Goals Per Game1.952.28
Power Play Goals Per Game0.530.74
Shots Per Game28.732.7
Shots Per Goal11.210.6
Team Shooting %0.0890.095
Power Play %0.170.241
Goals Against Per Game2.562.86
ES Goals Against Per Game1.952.26
PP Goals Against Per Game0.560.51
Shots Against Per Game30.432.84
Shots Against Per Goal11.8811.48
Opp. Team Shooting %0.0840.087
Penalty Kill %0.8260.849
Save %0.9160.913
Goals Against Average2.522.81
Shutouts61
Opponent Save %0.9110.905
Opponent Goals Against Average2.523.04
Opponent Shutouts12


Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines

Forwards

Leo Komarov – Nazem Kadri – William Nylander
van Riemsdyk  – Tyler Bozak – Mitch Marner
Zach Hyman – Auston Matthews – Connor Brown
Matt Martin – Frederik Gauthier – Nikita Soshnikov

Defencemen

Martin Marincin – Nikita Zaitsev
Jake Gardiner – Connor Carrick
Matt Hunwick – Roman Polak

Goaltenders

Starter: Frederik Andersen (Confirmed)
Backup: Curtis McElhinney

Scratched: Josh Leivo, Frank Corrado
Injured
: Ben Smith (lower body), Morgan Rielly (lower body)


Ottawa Senators Projected Lines

Forwards

Zack Smith – Derick Brassard – Mark Stone
Mike Hoffman – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Tom Pyatt
Ryan Dzingel – Kyle Turris – Bobby Ryan
Chris Kelly – Curtis Lazar – Chris Neil

Defencemen

Marc Methot – Erik Karlsson
Dion Phaneuf – Cody Ceci
Mark Borowiecki – Chris Wideman

Goaltenders

Starter: Mike Condon (Confirmed)
Backup: Matt O’Connor


Morning Skate: Mike Babcock