The Maple Leafs look to bounce back after a bad game against the Red Wings, where they were dominated and were lucky to steal a victory.
After being thoroughly outplayed Wednesday vs. Detroit, it will be interesting to see a rested Maple Leaf team play a tired Detroit team, who lost in a shootout vs. Florida last night. There was a fair bit of consternation regarding the Maple Leafs‘ effort on Wednesday, and while it didn’t appear to be from a lack of effort, they were certainly late on most plays, for the balance of the evening—a lot of that having to do with them being tired and playing an elite possession team that was rested for three days.
The Maple Leafs top line is a big concern at the moment; they are porous defensively, rarely take a shift over, yet they remain unchanged. Despite their struggles — their inability to break out cleanly, win offensive zone battles to maintain possession, and rarely using their defenceman to create ‘chaos shots’ from the point for 2nd and 3rd chance opportunities — they are still the most offensively productive line in the league (all situations).
They’ve been doing it for 3 seasons; rarely show up and play a 60 minute game on both sides of the puck, but have a highly-skilled, quick-strike nature that can put games away by having scoring plays develop in 5 seconds or under (see: JVR to Kessel goal from the last game vs the Red Wings for more details).
Jonathan Bernier is the Leafs starter tonight against Detroit.
— Jonas Siegel (@jonassiegel) December 13, 2014
James Reimer was to take the start tonight, with Jonathan Bernier playing his old team Sunday vs the Los Angeles Kings. It appears that Reimer tweaked a groin in practice yesterday, so Bernier gets the start tonight.
- The Leafs are still 12-0 when scoring first this season. Get the lead and get the crowd . Start on time.
- The Wings have scored just three goals in their last three games against Toronto.
- Petr Mrazek is 3-0 this year and he’ll need to find ways to be big, square, and see the puck to tame a potent Toronto offense.
Pavel Datsuk has just 1 goal in his career against the #Leafs.. His fewest against any team in the NHL.
— Leafs Stats Guy (@LeafsStatsGuy) December 13, 2014
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup
Forwards
James van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel
(11g-13a-24pts) – (11g-14a-25pts) – (15g-14a-29pts) (37g TOT)
Daniel Winnik – Nazem Kadri – Mike Santorelli
(1g-8a-9pts) – (7g-10a-17pts) – (5g-14a-19pts) (13g TOT)
Joffrey Lupul – Peter Holland – David Clarkson
(6g-5a-11pts) – (7g-5a-12pts) – (8g-3a-11pts) (21g TOT)
Richard Panik – Trevor Smith – David Booth
(5g-1a-6pts) – (0g-2a-2pts) – (0g-1a-1pts) (5g TOT)
Defence
Cody Franson – Dion Phaneuf
(4g-13a-17pts) – (1g-14a-15pts) (5g TOT)
Morgan Rielly – Stephane Robidas
(3g-6a-9pts) – (0g-4a-4pts) (3g TOT)
Jake Gardiner – Korbinian Holzer
(2g-6a-8pts) – (0g-0a-0pts) (1g TOT)
Goal
Jonathan Bernier
(11W-6L-4SO/OTL, 2.63GAA-.918sv.%)
James Reimer
Detroit Red Wings Projected Lineup
Forwards
Gustav Nyquist – Henrik Zetterberg – Tomas Jurco
(14g-4a-18pts) – (5g-21a-26pts) – (2g-9a-11pts) (21g TOT)
Tomas Tatar – Pavel Datsyuk – Darren Helm
(12g-9a-21pts) – (12g-11a-23pts) – (5g-10a-15pts) (29g TOT)
Johan Franzen – Riley Sheahan – Stephen Weiss
(6g-12a-18pts) – (7g-9a-16pts) – (4g-6a-10pts) (16g TOT)
Drew Miller – Luke Glendening – Joakim Andersson
(1g-4a-5pts) – (3g-1a-4pts) – (0g-3a-3pts) (4g TOT)
Defence
Jonathan Ericsson – Niklas Kronwall
(0g-7a-7pts) – (4g-13a-17pts) (4g TOT)
Danny DeKeyser – Kyle Quincey
(1g-10a-11pts) – (1g-5a-6pts) (2g TOT)
Brendan Smith – Jakub Kindl
(2g-4a-6pts) – (2g-5a-7pts) (2g TOT)
Goalies
Petr Mrazek
Jimmy Howard
(13W-5L-4OT/SO – 2.21GAA – .917sv%)
Scratched: Daniel Cleary, Brian Lashoff
Injured: Justin Abdelkader (shoulder)
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Detroit Red Wings - Head to Head
| Head to Head: | Maple Leafs | Red Wings |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 16-9-3 (.625% - 11th) | 17-6-7 (.696 - 7th) |
| Goal Differential | +14 | +16 |
| PP | 20.4 (12th) | 22.0% (8th) |
| PK | 84.0 (9th) | 88.2% (2nd) |
| GF/G | 3.36 (2nd) | 3.00 (6th) |
| GA/G | 2.86 (22nd) | 2.33 (7th) |
| SF/G | 30.0 (18th) | 31.0 (9th) |
| SA/G | 33.6 (26th) | 26.9 (2nd) |
| 5v5 SF/G | 28.5 (22nd) | 29.6 (13th) |
| 5v5 SA/G | 32.5 (27th) | 26.1 (3rd) |
| 5v5 CF% | 45.9% (27th) | 53.1% (4th) |
| 5v5 FF% | 46.6% (27th) | 52.6% (6th) |
| 5v5 Sh% | 9.50% (2nd) | 8.14% (13th) |
| 5v5 Sv% | 92.23% (15th) | 92.11% (17th) |
| FO% | 51.1% (11th) | 54.5% (2nd) |
PK=Penalty Kill %
GF/G=Goals for per game
GA/G=Goals against per game
SF/G=Shots for per game
SA/G=Shots against per game
Sh%=Shooting %
Sv%=Save percentage
F0%=Faceoff percentage
CF%=Corsi for % (shot attempts: shots, blocked shots, missed shots)
FF%=Fenwick for% (shots+missed shots)
Status report: There is a chance the Maple Leafs will replace rookie right wing Brandon Kozun with center Trevor Smith, who was a scratch Wednesday…Left wing Carter Ashton continues to skate with the Maple Leafs. Ashton is due to come off suspension Dec. 19 and will be eligible to play in Toronto’s Dec. 20 game against the Philadelphia Flyers…Detroit right wing Stephen Weiss hurt his shoulder Friday and is out. Cleary will take his place in the lineup.
Who’s hot: Toronto right wing Phil Kessel has goals in four of his past five games…Detroit center Pavel Datsyuk has a goal and three points in his past three games. Red Wings left wing Gustav Nyqvist has goals in back-to-back games.
