Advertisement

Can the Leafs make it four in a row for the first time this season? A Hockey Day in Canada marquee matchup against the Habs sounds like the perfect occasion.

Toronto enters this game six points back of Montreal for third place in the Atlantic Division, meaning they could make it four while also distancing themselves four points clear of the Ottawa Senators, who are nipping at their heels for that last wildcard spot but lost to the New York Rangers 4-1 earlier today.

Toronto will be without the injured David Clarkson, something they’re not exactly unused to. Troy Bodie will step onto the fourth line while Carter Ashton presumably joins Nik Kulemin and Peter Holland on line three.

The Leafs will look to avenge a bit of an embarrassing outing in their last meeting with the Canadiens in Montreal, where they only seemed to wake up once Max Pacioretty scored the 4-0 goal late in the second period – a shorthanded, backhanded squeaker on Bernier – and capped it off with an excalibur sword celebration.

If you aren’t already fired up for this game, especially after watching this HNIC montage below, you’re on the wrong website.

GO LEAFS GO.

 

Projected TML Lineup
JvR – Bozak – Kessel
Raymond – Kadri – Lupul
Kulemin – Holland – Ashton
Bodie – McClement – Orr

Gunnarsson – Phaneuf
Gleason – Franson
Gardiner – Rielly

Bernier

Projected MTL Lineup
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Gallagher
Prust – Plekanec – Gionta
Bournival – Eller – Briere
Moen – Nattinen – Parros

Gorges – Subban
Markov – Emelin
Murray – Diaz

Price

Previous articleRandy Carlyle Game Day Presser, Dave Bolland speaks to the media
Next articleRandy Carlyle – Habs Post Game
Founded in 2008, Maple Leafs Hotstove (MLHS) has grown to be the most visited independent team-focused hockey website online (Quantcast). Independently owned and operated, MLHS provides thorough and wide-ranging content, varying from news, opinion and analysis, to pre-game and long-form game reviews, and a weekly feature piece entitled "Leafs Notebook." MLHS has been cited by: ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CBC News, USA Today, Fox Sports, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, TSN, Sportsnet, Grantland, CTV News, CBSSports, The Globe & Mail, The National Post, The Toronto Star, The Toronto Sun, Global News, Huffington Post, and many more.