Puck Drop: 7:00 p.m. EST | Arena: Air Canada Centre | TV: TSN | Radio: SN 590
Game Day Quotes
Mike Babcock on the Anaheim Ducks:
They’ve got a good team. Their backend is really good. I think they’ve done a real good job. Whoever they have drafting there, they’ve got real good players there. And they’ve moved good players – Vatanen is a great player. You go through that, and they’ve done a real nice job there. They have depth. To me, they’ve got a good-looking hockey team.
We don’t see them enough. Last time we played them, I don’t think they had any of their centers. I don’t think they had Getzy. I don’t think they had Kesler.
As you see the league, when you look at all of these teams and evaluate yourself every day, you just live scared because everyone is the same as you. Never any night do you go to the rink and say, “Geez, we’re better than this team.” It doesn’t happen. It’s not like the league used to be.
Babcock on the decision to play Kasperi Kapanen over Matt Martin of late:
Marty is a real important guy and a real good guy. You don’t want him out of the lineup. In saying all of that, though, Kapanen is an elite PKer with real good speed. Real good tempo. Those are hard decisions you make. They’re personal decisions for the player. They’re not personal for us. It’s just based on hockey.
Babcock on the decision to put Roman Polak back in the lineup:
[The opponent] is part of it. I just think Polak is an important player and a good player for us. A real good penalty killer. We gave up two power play goals last game. We think [the Ducks] have got a good power play. The numbers might not look like that, but we think they’re real dangerous that way.
Polie fits in, plus Dermott seems to really move the puck anyway.
Babcock on needing to break out better than the team did vs. Boston:
If you play in the offensive zone a little bit, you break out real fast. If you don’t, they’re on top of you. The puck is on the wall and they look like they’re a pretty good hockey club. We didn’t skate very good the other night. We still didn’t give up tons, but we didn’t skate very good and the other team was quicker and better than us.
Babcock on what lessons the top line can take from going up against Patrice Bergeron’s line on Saturday:
In the last few games there, they had Giroux and Couturier at those guys one time, and then they had Toews and those guys one time, and then you have [Bergeron’s line]. The bottom line is it’s a compliment. When you go on the road and the best player plays against you, it’s a compliment.
The way I look at it is I just do a simple math problem. I look at their points and I look at our points and I decide who is checking who, and then I take care of the puck. And then after you get tuned up a couple of times, over a few years, usually you figure it out.
Babcock on Zach Hyman’s improved offensive numbers:
I just think he is a real hard-working, honest kid. Those kids who work that hard and train that hard in the summer and work on their skills that much just get better. I learned from Pavel Datsyuk — if you have three guys on the line that all want the puck, then he didn’t get it to have it enough. He didn’t want that. He wanted someone to get it back for him. That’s another theory I have with good players.
Hyms is one of those guys, if you look at our five-on-five scoring, he’s right at the top of the team. He never gets on the power play. He kills penalties for us. He’s a good hockey player.
James van Riemsdyk on the team arguably playing better on the road than at home and the keys to turning that around ahead of the five-game homestand:
Maybe not overthink it. I don’t know if we have been, but we know what makes us successful, whether it’s home or on the road. We’ve just got to stick to that template and go from there.
Auston Matthews on what he’s learning going up against the best players more often this season:
You’ve got to play your best or they are going to end up with the puck all night, establish a forecheck and play in your zone. Any time you go up against those top players, you’ve got to be prepared.
Matthews on whether he’s noticed he’s receiving more attention than last year:
I feel like it’s kind of similar. Everyone is making adjustments. It’s a constant back-and-forth battle throughout the season. Obviously, in your second year, they know what to expect from you, but it’s also the same way the other way, though. It makes it a challenge.
Matchup Stats
| TOR | ANA | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 30-19-4 | 25-18-10 |
| GF/g | 3.11 (7th) | 2.72 (23rd) |
| GA/g | 2.76 (12th) | 2.72 (10th) |
| PP% | 20.7% (12th) | 17.7% (22nd) |
| PK% | 82.7% (7th) | 81.3% (15th) |
| Shots/g | 31.6 (17th) | 30.1 (25th) |
| Shots Against/g | 33.4 (28th) | 33.3 (27th) |
| 5v5 CF% | 49.8% (18th) | 47.9% (26th) |
| 5v5 SV% | .931 (6th) | .930 (8th) |
| 5v5 SH% | 8.9% (4th) | 7.8% (13th) |
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup
*We have added goal, assist, and point totals for each player below the lines. Total goals per line are indicated, too, as well as save percentage for goalies.
Forwards
Hyman – Matthews – Nylander
(54-10-18-28) – (45-23-17-40) – (53-10-28-38) Total: 43
Marleau – Kadri – Marner
(54-17-9-26) – (52-17-14-31) – (54-9-27-36) Total: 43
Van Riemsdyk – Bozak – Brown
(53-20-11-31) – (52-8-19-27) – (54-12-7-19) Total: 40
Komarov – Moore – Kapanen
(53-4-10-14) – (36-4-5-9) – (11-3-0-3) Total: 11
Defencemen
Rielly – Hainsey
(49-5-27-32) – (33-3-15-18) Total: 8
Gardiner – Zaitsev
(54-3-27-30) – (37-4-6-10) Total: 7
Dermott – Polak
(11-1-3-4) – (32-2-4-6) Total: 3
Goaltenders
Andersen (.921 sv%)
McElhinney (.932 sv%)
Scratched: Martin, Leivo, Borgman, Carrick
Anaheim Ducks Projected Lineup
Forwards
Rakell – Getzlaf – Silfverberg
(48-19-22-41) – (29-6-25-31) – (48-12-13-25) Total: 37
Cogliano – Kesler – Brown
(51-6-15-21) – (16-5-2-7) – (9-1-2-3) Total: 28
Ritchie – Henrique – Kase
(47-4-11-15) – (28-11-6-17) – (37-12-10-22) Total: 27
Wagner – Vermette – Perry
(53-6-9-15) – (53-8-8-16) – (42-9-17-26) Total: 23
Defencemen
Lindholm – Manson
(40-7-10-17) – (53-3-20-23) Total: 10
Fowler – Bieksa
(41-6-17-23) – (47-0-5-5) Total: 6
Beauchemin – Montour
(44-2-7-9) – (41-6-15-21) Total: 8
Goaltenders
Miller (.922 sv%)
Berra (.926 sv%)
Injured: Eaves, Gibson
