Puck Drop: 7:00 p.m. EST | Arena: Air Canada Centre | TV: SN Ontario* | Radio: SN 590
*CBC Covering Olympics
Game Day Quotes
Mike Babcock on his team’s previous meeting with Boston Bruins:
They were better than us. They forechecked hard, we didn’t execute coming out of our zone, they played fast, made us play slow, they were better — so we get an opportunity here today in our building. I think it’s a real good opportunity for our team — a lot of guys get a different kind of opportunity today because Matthews is injured.
Babcock on the Bergeron line:
Well, that’s what I talked to our guys about — lots of time you play against the best lines in the league, or at least you think they’re the best because of their numbers, but they don’t check like that. These guys, they flat out know what they’re doing. Bergy is a great man, he’s won everything. First time I ever had him was the 04′ world championships, I think he was 17 or 18, he did everything right then.
Babcock on Marner’s performance since playing with Kadri:
Well, I think he’s been spectacular, I mean, unbelievable how good he’s played. He’d done a real good job, whether it’s playing with Patty or playing with Naz or just feeling good about himself. He obviously didn’t have the start he wanted, took him some time. You know, welcome to the league, it’s hard. He’s a good player and he plays with great energy. He has great energy as a person and I think that’s contagious as well.
Zach Hyman on Nylander playing centre tonight:
He’s a great skater, Willie is. When you’re at centre you have more options with the puck, you get the puck more because you’re down low in the Dzone and you’re able to skate and use your speed, make plays more often because you have the puck more when you’re in the middle. It’ll be nice to see Willie in the middle and skating, doing his thing. I think that he can play centre for sure and It’ll be fun to see.
Hainsey on the level of play at this point of the season and its effect on transitioning out of the Dzone:
Well, you’ve got to execute and make good plays. If you can’t make those tight little D-to-D passes or D-to-Centre passes, you know the wings are usually taken away at this point. Into the middle, you’ve got to be able to make those plays in order to get out quickly with any speed and hopefully create offence in the other end. If you can’t make those plays and you’re just constantly rimming it or icing it, it’s going to turn into a long night. It’s mostly about being able to execute those plays and getting it out, hopefully to our guys that can put it in the net.
Matchup Stats
| TOR | BOS | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 38-20-5 | 37-13-8 |
| GF/g | 3.22 (6th) | 3.24 (5th) |
| GA/g | 2.76 (12th) | 2.41 (1st) |
| PP% | 19.7% (18th) | 20.4% (14th) |
| PK% | 83.2% (4th) | 84.0% (2nd) |
| Shots/g | 31.7 (16th) | 32.5 (12th) |
| Shots Against/g | 34.2 (29th) | 29.0 (1st) |
| 5v5 CF% | 49.0% (20th) | 54.0% (1st) |
| 5v5 SV% | .930 (6th) | .931 (5th) |
| 5v5 SH% | 9.4% (T-1st) | 8.2% (T-8th) |
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 – Nylander – Marner
(63-11-21-32) – (63-14-32-46) – (63-14-31-45) Total: 39
Marleau – Kadri – Komarov
(63-20-14-34) – (61-22-22-44) – (63-5-10-15) Total: 47
Van Riemsdyk – Bozak – Brown
(61-25-14-39) – (62-9-23-32) – (63-13-11-24) Total: 47
Leivo – Moore – Kapanen
(12-1-2-3) – (45-5-6-11) – (20-4-1-5) Total: 10
Defencemen
Rielly – Hainsey
(57-6-29-35) – (60-3-16-19) Total: 9
Gardiner – Zaitsev
(63-4-34-38) – (45-4-6-10) Total: 8
Dermott – Polak
(20-1-7-8) – (38-2-6-8) Total: 3
Goaltenders
Andersen (.923 sv%)
McElhinney (.932 sv%)
Scratched: Martin, Carrick
Injured: Matthews
Boston Bruins Projected Lineup
Forwards
Marchand – Bergeron – Pastrnak
(45-22-33-55) – (53-27-25-52) – (58-22-30-52) Total: 71
Debrusk – Krejci – Spooner
( 54-11-18-29) – (40-11-17-28) – (38-9-14-24) Total: 31
Heinen – Nash – Backes
(54-12-27-39) – (57-10-18-28) – (41-10-16-26) Total: 32
Schaller – Kuraly – Acciari
(58-10-7-17) – (58-5-6-11) – (37-7-1-8) Total: 22
Defencemen
Chara – McAvoy
(58-6-11-17) – (41-10-16-26) Total: 16
Krug – Carlo
(54-10-28-38) – (58-0-6-6) Total: 10
Grzelcyk – McQuaid
(40-2-9-11) – (22-1-1-2) Total: 3
Goaltenders
Rask (.922 sv%)
Khudobin (.922 sv%)
Injured: Bjork
