Toronto Maple Leafs (21-30-10, 30th in NHL) vs. Washington Capitals (46-12-4, 1st in NHL)
Puck drop: 7 p.m. EST
Arena: Verizon Centre
Watch: Sportsnet, CSN-DC, NHL-TV
– William Nylander, Nikita Soshnikov, Zach Hyman and Kasperi Kapanen are all seeking their first NHL points after making their NHL debuts Monday night vs. Tampa Bay.
– Brooks Laich will play his first game against the Washington Capitals in just his second game as a Leaf. Laich played all but two of his 743 NHL games over 12 seasons with the Capitals.
Laich on playing his old team: “I know there are going to be maybe a few emotions but I can’t let that get to me. I can’t run around, I can’t be hyped up. I’ve got to conserve some energy and just use the hockey sense and play the game.”
“I haven’t digested through all of the emotion; I’ve been through some of it. I have such an empty feeling that I never got the ultimate goal. Before my time in D.C. ended I really wanted to do it with Alex [Ovechkin], I really wanted to do it with [Nicklas Backstrom] and really wanted to do it with Mike Green, who unfortunately wasn’t back this year. Those guys meant a lot to me.”
– Daniel Winnik was, understandably, a little more nonplussed about the prospect of playing against his former club: “I’ve played other teams I’ve been traded on shortly after being traded so I guess it’s kind of nice to just get it out of the way.”
– Jonathan Bernier starts for the Leafs (3-3-0, .892 save percentage versus Washington), Philip Grubauer for Washington (first career start vs. Toronto).
Who’s Hot
- Nazem Kadri: Six points (1g, 5a) in last five games
- Morgan Rielly: Three points (1g,2a) in last four games
Who’s Cold
- Michael Grabner: 0 points in last 24 games
- Frank Corrado: 0 points in last nine games
Matchup Stats
| Overall Stats | Tor | Was |
|---|---|---|
| Points | 52 | 96 |
| Record % | 0.426 | 0.774 |
| Home Winning % | 0.423 | 0.8 |
| Away Winning % | 0.333 | 0.724 |
| Shootout Winning % | 0.5 | 0.75 |
| Goal Differential Per Game | -0.57 | 0.95 |
| Shot Differential Per Game | 0.48 | 1.77 |
| Hits Per Game | 27.6 | 24.2 |
| PIM Per Game | 9.3 | 8.7 |
| Opponent PIM Per Game | 8.5 | 8.6 |
| Goals Per Game | 2.33 | 3.26 |
| Even Strength Goals Per Game | 1.85 | 2.47 |
| Power Play Goals Per Game | 0.46 | 0.76 |
| Shots Per Game | 31.3 | 30.7 |
| Shots Per Goal | 13.4 | 9.4 |
| Team Shooting % | 7.40% | 10.60% |
| Power Play % | 14.40% | 23.90% |
| Goals Against Per Game | 2.9 | 2.31 |
| ES Goals Against Per Game | 2.15 | 1.76 |
| PP Goals Against Per Game | 0.66 | 0.5 |
| Shots Against Per Game | 30.8 | 28.97 |
| Shots Against Per Goal | 10.62 | 12.56 |
| Opp. Team Shooting % | 9.40% | 8.00% |
| Penalty Kill % | 80.30% | 84.20% |
| Save % | 0.906 | 0.92 |
| Goals Against Average | 2.85 | 2.28 |
| Shutouts | 3 | 2 |
| Opponent Save % | 0.926 | 0.894 |
| Opponent Goals Against Average | 2.29 | 3.23 |
| Opponent Shutouts | 7 | 2 |
Season Series
| Date | Result | Shots For | Shots Against | PP | PK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/28/2015 | WAS 4 - TOR 2 | 34 | 23 | 1 for 2 | 1 for 3 |
| 11/07/2015 | TOR 2 - WAS 3 | 25 | 31 | 1 for 3 | 5 for 6 |
Mike Babcock Game Day
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineups
Leo Komarov – Nazem Kadri – Nikita Soshnikov
Michael Grabner – William Nylander – Zach Hyman
Colin Greening – Ben Smith – Brooks Laich
Kasperi Kapanen – Peter Holland – Brad Boyes
Matt Hunwick – Morgan Rielly
Jake Gardiner – Frank Corrado
Martin Marincin – Connor Carrick
Jonathan Bernier
Garret Sparks
Scratched: Byron Froese, PA Parenteau
Injured: Stephane Robidas (lower body), Joffrey Lupul (middle body), James van Riemsdyk (foot fracture), Jared Cowen (hip tightness), Tyler Bozak (upper body), Milan Michalek (upper body)
Washington Capitals Projected Lineup
Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Justin Williams
Jason Chimera – Marcus Johansson – Tom Wilson
Daniel Winnik – Mike Richards – Jay Beagle
Matt Niskanen – Karl Alzner
Brooks Orpik – Dmitry Orlov
Nate Schmidt – Mike Weber
Philipp Grubauer
Braden Holtby
Injured: John Carlson (lower body)
Scratched: Taylor Chorney, Stanislav Galiev, Michael Latta
