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Puck Drop: 7:00 p.m. EST  |  Arena: Air Canada Centre  |  TV: TSN  |  Radio: TSN 1050


Game Day Quotes

Mike Babcock on what he expects from Nikita Soshnikov and the nature of the callup:

To be good, to be mean, to be fast. Be a good penalty killer and give us energy.

The reality is, Sosh got hurt. He played well for us when he was here. We wanted to get him going again and give him a chance to get his game back. He’s playing well. It’s been well documented that he has a clause in his contract so that puts a little heat on you as well, but the reality is we want him to be a Leaf for a long time to come.

Babcock on his team’s performance since the last time they faced New Jersey:

You have to get them to stand in the right spot. You’ve got to get people to feel good and play hard for one another and do things right. There’s a fine line between getting in your own way, too, as a coach, so obviously we didn’t handle that fine line as good, or they didn’t, and it got away on us. We tried to get it back sooner than we got it back, but the other teams are trying to win, too. You get off for a bit and you don’t win for a little while. I looked at the standings today — everyone’s just right jammed together except Tampa and St.Louis. Looks scary to me.

Babcock on the challenge presented by the Devils:

They’re a good team. They skate. They’ve got four good lines. They’ve got good D and real good goaltending. They skate fast. They get on the forecheck. They work hard and compete hard. I like their team. They’re fun to watch and they never give up. I think it’s a real good test for us tonight. It’ll be a tight, tight game and we better bring our ‘A’ game.

Babcock on the team’s performances since Auston Matthews has been out:

[Better] without the puck, haven’t been as good with the puck. We were also on the end of a long, long grind and didn’t have the same kind of energy. We had to win a different way. Ideally, we’ll have more energy here tonight and also we’ve got to play right. I’m not trying to take anything away from the opposition, but our biggest problem is ourselves, usually. As long as we play right, we have a chance. That’s all you can ask for.

Frederik Andersen on the Devils’ new faces and if it makes them harder to read:

Once you start getting to know people more, the more you start to know what they can bring. They’ve had some good new additions from Europe and young guys from the draft, so they make it tough. We have confidence that our coaching staff is going to do a great job of scouting and getting us ready.


Matchup Stats

TORMTL
Record12-7-08-10-2
GF/g3.6 (4th)2.5 (28th)
GA/g3.15 (21st)3.4 (17th)
PP%22.7.4% (6th)
15.3% (26th)
PK%81.4% (14th)74.6% (28th)
Shots/g30.6 (19th)36.8 (1st)
Shots Against/g33.5 (25th)30.9 (9th)
5v5 CF%50.25% (13th)53.92% (3rd)
5v5 SV%.912 (24th).909 (26th)
5v5 SH%10.4% (1st)6.5% (28th)

Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup

Forwards
Komarov – Kadri – Nylander
JVR – Marleau – Hyman
Brown – Bozak – Marner
Martin – Moore – Soshnikov

Defencemen
Rielly – Hainsey
Gardiner – Zaitsev
Borgman – Carrick

Goaltenders
Andersen
McElhinney

Scratched: Polak, Leivo
Injured: Matthews


New Jersey Devils Projected Lineup

Forwards
Hall – Hischier – Palmieri
Bratt – Zajac – Stafford
Henrique – Boyle – Wood
Gibbons – Coleman – Noesen

Defencemen
Greene – Santini
Moore – Severson
Butcher – Lovejoy

Goaltenders
Schneider
Kinkaid

Injured: Johansson, Mueller