Even with the Maple Leafs losing nine of their last ten, James Reimer hits career game #200 tonight in strong form, managing to garner at least a point in three of his last four starts (1-1-2) along with a .923 save percentage.
Playoff-calibre teams tend to ratchet their play up a notch post-All Star break with the playoffs now in sight. If the Leafs continue to play as they have of late, and make some subtractions at the deadline as expected, it’s not hard to picture the results continuing on at this current lowly pace, particularly until James van Riemsdyk is back.
But hey, you never know.
Pregame notes:
– The new Leaf logo will be unveiled following the game tonight at 9:30 p.m. during Episode 5 of ‘The Leaf’ on TSN4.
– Peter Holland will get a look in what was previously Michael Grabner’s spot on the left side of Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov as Mike Babcock continues to shift the deck chairs in hopes of sparking something in the way of offense. Holland has three assists in his last five games. The Leafs have scored just 12 goals in their last 10, shooting just 4.1% as a team over that span.
– Grabner and Frank Corrado will both play tonight despite taking pucks to the face recently. Grabner underwent six root canals over the break after taking a shot to the face versus Florida, while Corrado needed repairs after taking one on the nose in today’s practice.
– Martin Marincin will make way for Corrado as he did against Tampa Bay last Wednesday. Corrado played just 5:39 in that game — a season low — but managed a couple of shots on goal while also taking a penalty on a borderline hit down the wall in the offensive zone. He’ll again play on Dion Phaneuf’s right.
– The Leafs are 0-2-1 against Boston this season. Babcock sums up the season series so far:
It’s interesting, our games against Boston. The first game, to me, was no contest. I thought we played real well in our building. The game was tight last time we played in Boston as far as the scoreboard, but they were better than us and they were better than us from the start until the end. Us handling their forecheck, they forecheck real well. Us handling their O-zone cycle, they do a good job getting it to the top and crashing the net and making it hard on you. In order to prevent all those things, let’s execute, let’s be organized coming out of our zone, let’s be executing in our own zone, and let’s spend more time in their zone.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Peter Holland – Nazem Kadri – Leo Komarov
Michael Grabner – Tyler Bozak – PA Parenteau
Shawn Matthias – Nick Spaling – Daniel Winnik
Joffrey Lupul – Byron Froese – Rich Clune
Matt Hunwick – Morgan Rielly
Dion Phaneuf – Frank Corrado
Jake Gardiner – Roman Polak
James Reimer
Jonathan Bernier
Injured: James van Riemsdyk (foot), Stephane Robidas (lower body)
Scratched: Brad Boyes, Martin Marincin
Boston Bruins Projected Lines
Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron – Brett Connolly
Loui Eriksson – David Krejci – David Pastrnak
Matt Beleskey – Ryan Spooner – Jimmy Hayes
Zac Rinaldo – Max Talbot – Landon Ferraro
Zdeno Chara – Zach Trotman
Dennis Seidenberg – Colin Miller
Torey Krug – Kevan Miller
Tuukka Rask
Malcolm Subban
Injured: Jonas Gustavsson (irregular heart rate), Chris Kelly (broken femur), Adam McQuaid (upper body)
Scratched: Joonas Kemppainen, Tyler Randell, Joe Morrow