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Puck Drop: 7:00 p.m.  |  Arena: Air Canada Centre |  TV: CBC  |  Radio: SN 590


Game Day Quotes

Mike Babcock on Andreas Johnsson’s limited ice time in his first game:

Well, that’s what happens. We were chasing the game, so I eliminated those guys from the rotation to generate more offence. He never got an opportunity. Hence, he’s back in there tonight. Go out there and play. Play well and do good things, and good things will happen.

Babcock on Tomas Plekanec playing his first game against Montreal after 15 years with the team:

Yeah, we talked about it this morning, actually. Obviously, you want do well, you want to be proud of what you’re doing. Pleks has come to a new organization. We feel he’s going to be real important for us. He’s probably thinking a little too much right now, but we’re real confident in his ability and his professionalism. He’ll be an important part for us.

I think it’s real important to have a group you can put out there against anybody, besides Kadri’s group. I think he’ll be able to do that for us, especially as we add our depth back and we get deeper on the wings. That’ll help him.

Tomas Plekanec on his mindset before the game and the play of his former team:

I’m not going to make a big deal out of it. It’s another game for me to get better and be a better player for Toronto and that’s my goal tonight. I’ve seen a couple of games that [Montreal] has played and they play really hard, they really compete. They play really well even though they’re losing some games. It’s going to be a tough game tonight.

Brendan Gallagher on Plekanec serving as a veteran role model for him throughout his time in Montreal:

Thre’s a reason why he’s been doing what he’s been doing for such a long time. When you look at the way he came to the rink every day, he was just a professional. He shows up every day and sometimes even on days off; he’s kind of got his routine that he sticks to. As a younger guy coming up, he was pretty important to have around. You see the way he acts and the way he goes about his business. He is not the most outspoken, vocal guy, but I think the way he leads by example is important. It was a big reason for why he has played so many years as a professional.

Gallagher on what made Plekanec a good role model:

I just kind of remember, sitting on the bench, if you did something stupid, the look he’d give you. He didn’t really have to say much. You just kind of knew. I got to play on his line for a lot years. I learned a lot. He always had the task of going against the other team’s top players and he did it for so long very successfully. Just the way he did it — he understood the game, he’s very smart, he was very good at picking apart little holes in the opponent you can use, and he’d pass it on. That’s something I will always remember from playing with him.

Canadiens head coach Claude Julien on the tough decision to trade Plekanec and his professionalism:

He’s good for the young players, especially this year more than ever because we’ve got a good number of them. He’s really shown the right way to prepare yourself, the right way to maintain your conditioning during the season. He’s been extremely good that way. It was obviously never an easy decision for an organization to let a guy like that go, but at the same time, he’s got an opportunity here to help a team with his experience. We’re happy for him.

He’s so quiet. He’s not a guy that you have a ton of stories about because he lives his life in a very professional way, I guess. The one thing about him is that every morning, he’s in early. He’s got his routine and that routine didn’t seem to change from the time I got back to Montreal to the time he left.

James van Riemsdyk on the hot play of his line:

I think our line’s been going good now for a while. All three of us are smart players and kind of bring something different to the table. Our skillsets really complement each other pretty well. Brownie’s been pretty tenacious on the forecheck getting pucks back. Bozie is obviously a heady player and makes a lot of good plays with the puck and good passes. I’ve been trying to find some open areas and positions where I can put quality chances on net.


Matchup Stats

TORMTL
Record42-22-726-33-12
GF/g3.27 (5th)2.54 (28th)
GA/g2.85 (12th)3.10 (24th)
PP%22.4% (5th)
21.1% (9th)
PK%82.2% (9th)75.4% (28th)
Shots/g32.0 (15th)33.3 (8th)
Shots Against/g34.1 (28th)32.1 (19th)
5v5 CF%49.5% (18th)50.9% (15th)
5v5 SV%.928 (7th).923 (15th)
5v5 SH%9.1% (2nd)6.2% (31st)

Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup

Forwards
Marleau – Kadri – Marner
(71-23-17-40) – (69-27-21-48) – (71-19-40-59) Total: 69
Hyman – Nylander – Johnsson
  (71-13-21-34) – (71-14-37-51) – (1-0-0-0) Total: 27
Van Riemsdyk – Bozak – Brown
  (70-31-16-47) – (70-11-26-37) – (71-12-12-24)  Total: 54
Moore – Plekanec – Kapanen
 (48-6-6-12) – (67-6-18-24) – (25-5-2-7)  Total: 17

Defencemen
Rielly – Hainsey
 (65-6-37-43) – (69-4-18-22) Total: 10
Gardiner – Polak
 (71-4-38-42) – (44-2-9-11) Total: 6
Dermott – Carrick
(28-1-9-10) – (42-4-6-10) Total: 5

Goaltenders
McElhinney (.931 sv%)
Sparks (.936 sv%*)

*AHL

Scratched: Leivo, Martin
Injured: Matthews, Zaitsev, Andersen, Komarov


Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup

Forwards
Bryon – Drouin – Gallagher
  (71-17-13-30) – (66-11-26-37) – (71-26-18-44) Total: 54
Galchenyuk – De la Rose – Lehkonen
(71-16-28-44) – (44-3-6-9) – (55-9-8-17) Total: 28
Scherbak – L.Shaw – Hudon
  (17-3-2-5) – (19-2-0-2) – (64-8-18-26) Total: 13
Deslauriers – McCarron – Carr
 (47-8-4-12) – (8-0-0-0) – (28-4-10) Total: 12

Defencemen
Reilly – Petry
 (47-2-13-15) – (71-10-25-35) Total: 12
Alzner – Juulsen
 (71-1-9-10) – (12-1-0-1) Total: 2
Benn – Lernout
 (68-4-9-13) – (7-0-0-0) Total: 4

Goaltenders
Niemi (.930 sv%)
Lindgren (.907 sv%)

Injured: Price, Weber, A.Shaw, Pacioretty, Mete, Hemsky, Danault