Jonathan Bernier remains between the pipes as the Toronto Maple Leafs take on the New York Islanders in an early 6 p.m. start.
Bernier starts tonight and his performance will dictate his status for Tuesday's rematch. Otherwise Reimer gets back in . #TMLtalk
— Paul Hendrick (@HennyTweets) December 27, 2015
The phrasing of this tweet is interesting, and it’s tough to know what’s coming from Mike Babcock here and what is Hendrick’s interpretation. Bernier wouldn’t appear to have earned the right to hold onto the crease if James Reimer is available, but they may just be playing it safe with Reimer’s injury (that seems most likely).
In any event, Matt Hunwick is back into the lineup tonight, which will be a relief to Babcock as he had to ride Polak, Rielly and Phaneuf extra hard with Martin Marincin and Frank Corrado clocking 12 minutes or less a piece versus Arizona before the break.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup
James van Riemsdyk – Tyler Bozak – PA Parenteau
Michael Grabner – Nazem Kadri – Leo Komarov
Daniel Winnik – Peter Holland – Joffrey Lupul
Shawn Matthias – Byron Froese – Brad Boyes
Matt Hunwick – Morgan Rielly
Jake Gardiner – Dion Phaneuf
Roman Polak – Martin Marincin
Jonathan Bernier
James Reimer
Injured: Stephane Robidas (lower body), Nick Spaling (upper body), Garret Sparks (lower body)
Scratched: Frank Corrado
New York Islanders Projected Lineup
Brock Nelson – John Tavares – Ryan Strome
Josh Bailey – Frans Nielsen – Kyle Okposo
Anders Lee – Mikhail Grabovski – Nikolay Kulemin
Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy – Travis Hamonic
Calvin de Haan – Johnny Boychuk
Thomas Hickey – Brian Strait
Thomas Greiss
Christopher Gibson
Injured: Jaroslav Halak (upper body)
Scratched: Marek Zidlicky, Steve Bernier
