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The Maple Leafs take on the Blackhawks in a quick turnaround following an embarrassing defensive effort last night against Philadelphia.

It’s the second weekend in a row where the Leafs play Saturday-Sunday, with the second game of the back to back coming against two tough Western opponents/recent Cup champs. The Leafs have dealt with back to backs very well so far this season, going 5-1-1 in the second game, including a 3-2 win over these Blackhawks at the beginning of November.

Indeed, it has been the games where we go in thinking “this is going to be tough” that the Leafs seem to surprise us in a good way. Well rested and playing weak teams, the Leafs have pretty regularly let us down. The theme of the 2014-15 season has been “Expect the Unexpected,” as it’s been a weird season to assess and a difficult team to get a handle on.

The Leafs have won their last two games against the Hawks,  including a 7-3 trouncing last December.

The Hawks are the stingiest team in the League, allowing just 2.0 goals against per game, and enter this one with the League’s best goal differential at +35. The Hawks lost to the Blue Jackets last night in a shootout despite dominating the game.

Randy Carlyle would be wise to change up the pairings from last night’s debacle. With Jake Gardiner in the press box, pairing up Robidas and Holzer with Robidas on his off side didn’t seem to help anybody’s game, to put it lightly.

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Chicago Blackhawks - Head to Head

Head to Head:Maple LeafsBlackhawks
Record19-11-3 (.621% - 10th)22-9-2 (.697 - 5th)
Goal Differential+16 (6th)+35 (1st)
GF/G3.39 (1st)2.97 (6th)
GA/G2.94 (24th)2.00 (1st)
PP20.7% (9th)17.5% (19th)
PK83.9 (9th)91.4% (1st)
SF/G30.0 (16th)35.2 (1st)
SA/G33.9 (27th)28.6 (12st)
5v5 SF/G28.2 (21st)34.6 (1st)
5v5 SA/G33.0 (27th)28.6 (18th)
5v5 CF%45.3% (27th) 55.0% (1st)
5v5 FF%46.0% (27th)54.4% (2nd)
5v5 Sh%9.86% (1st)7.59% (15th)
5v5 Sv%92.25% (15th)93.67% (3rd)
FO%49.7% (16th)52.6% (10th)
PP=Power Play %
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)

 

Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup

Joffrey Lupul – Tyler Bozak – Phil Kessel
(8-6-14) – (12-15-27) – (17-19-36) (37G, 77PTS TOT)
James van Riemsdyk – Nazem Kadri – Mike Santorelli
(14-15-29) – (9-11-20) – (6-16-22) (29G, 71PTS TOT)
Daniel Winnik – Peter Holland – David Clarkson
(1-13-14) – (8-7-15) – (9-3-12) (18G, 41PTS TOT)
David Booth – Trevor Smith – Richard Panik
(1-1-2) – (0-2-2) – (6-1-7) (7G, 11PTS TOT)

Dion Phaneuf – Cody Franson
(2-15-17) – (5-16-21) (7G, 38PTS TOT)
Jake Gardiner – Roman Polak
(2-6-8) – (3-2-5) (5G, 13PTS TOT)
Morgan Reilly – Stephane Robidas
(4-7-11) – (0-5-5) (4G, 16PTS TOT)

James Reimer
(6-3-0, .909SV%, 2.76GAA)
Jonathan Bernier

Scratched: Korbinian Holzer
Injured: Leo Komarov (concussion)

Chicago Blackhawks Projected Lineup

Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Marian Hossa
(7-14-21) – (12-16-28) – (6-15-21) (25G, 71PTS TOT)
Kris Versteeg – Brad Richards – Patrick Kane
(8-16-24) – (6-12-18) – (15-18-33) (29G, 75PTS TOT)
Bryan Bickell – Andrew Shaw – Patrick Sharp
(4-7-11) – (5-5-10) – (5-7-12) (14G, 33PTS TOT)
Daniel Carcillo – Marcus Kruger – Ben Smith
(4-3-7) – (4-8-12) – (5-3-8) (13G, 27PTS TOT)

Duncan Keith – Brent Seabrook
(6-12-18) – (6-12-18) (12G, 36PTS TOT)
Johnny Oduya – Niklas Hjalmarsson
(1-2-3) – (1-7-8) (2G, 11PTS TOT)
Tim Erixon – Michal Rozsival
(0-0-0) – (1-3-4) (1G, 4PTS TOT)

Antti Raanta
(5-2-1, .938SV%, 2.01GAA)
Corey Crawford

Scratched: David Rundblad, Joakim Nordstrom
Injured: Trevor van Riemsdyk (patella)

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