Puck Drop: 7:00 p.m. | Arena: Air Canada Centre | TV: HNIC | Radio: TSN1050
A GoFundMe has been set up to support the families of the victims of the Humboldt tragedy. Please donate if you can.
Game Day Quotes
Mike Babcock on Humboldt:
I grew up there in Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. It’s just down the road. My buddy’s kid played there. I talked to him – he’s a fireman in Saskatoon – last night and as the calls were coming in, they were talking about all of the kids they coached over the years that were playing on that team. I can’t even imagine being the parent, or the wife, or the kids at home, going through something like this. The hockey world is an unbelievable world. You can’t make up for losses. You just can’t. It’s going to rip the heart out of your chest. We pray for those families. We’re thinking about them. I don’t know what else you say. Horrific, horrific accident. Tough day.
Babcock on Humboldt:
I know that road pretty good. It didn’t seem like a big [danger] spot. It’s not in the mountains or anything like that, but accidents do happen. You send your kids away – in my case, to junior hockey or college hockey or college soccer – and I always used to think about those vans the coaches were driving to college soccer. I always thought those were a nightmare. This is supposed to be as safe as it gets. It just goes to show you you’ve got to embrace each and every day, and each and every day you’re…. with your family, you better enjoy it.
Tyler Bozak on Humboldt:
It’s just heartbreaking. Some of the best times are on the bus with your teammates. All of us has spent a lot of time on buses. Obviously, it’s a tragedy. You can’t really put it into words. It was kind of hard to sleep last night. I can’t imagine what everyone is going through back in Saskatchewan and what’s happening there. Obviously, you just send your love and pray for everyone that is involved, and hope for the best. Saskatchewan is a great community of people and everyone will rally together and do the best they can. But, obviously, it’s a really tragic situation.
Growing up, we were driving to Saskatchewan all the time – hockey tournaments and everything like that. Obviously, wherever you play juniors – for me, in BC – there are long bus trips. You just feel safe in those situations and you never expect anything could happen. You think about the families…. Being a dad now, and thinking about parents being involved, it’s just tough.
Bozak on the Saskatchewan hockey community and the hockey community at large coming together:
It’s unbelievable. You can just see from the outpouring of support yesterday and I’m sure it will carry on. It’s just a heartbreaking situation and you feel for everyone involved. You can’t really put it into words. We’ve all spent time on the bus and you’re with your buddies having a good time. You feel safe in that situation. It’s just really sad.
Patrick Marleau on Humboldt:
It hits close to home for everybody. I could easily see my kids, in a few years, being on a road trip.
Morgan Rielly on Humboldt:
Just a devastating tragedy. Our thoughts go out to the Humboldt Broncos and their family members. It’s a terrible, terrible thing.
Growing up, playing hockey and spending a great deal of time in Saskatchewan, you gain an appreciation for the type of people that come from there. In times like these, you need people around you. Our thoughts and hearts go out to the Humboldt Broncos and their families.
Playing hockey anywhere growing up, you spend a lot of time on the bus. You want that to be something you look forward to growing up – going on the road with your team. It’s just a terrible tragedy.
Babcock on using this game as a tune-up for the playoffs:
It’s important for us. It’s our last opportunity to get ready. I can’t manufacture this. They’re going to play hard. I really like the fact that Price is playing in net. He’s going to make it hard on us. I think it’s important we have a hard game. I didn’t think we were dialled in mentally at the start of the Jersey game like we should’ve been. We want to be here tonight so we’re prepared for next week.
It’s a good opportunity for our team. It’s Saturday night in our house. It’s Montreal. It should be a good game.
Babcock on getting Travis Dermott back into the lineup:
I mean, he’s quick. He wasn’t quick out here this morning. He’s got to get his game back. Any time you’re out… He’s real quick. He can break the puck out and get through to the net. He’s getting better and better and sorting it out in his own zone. He’s going to be a guy forwards like to play with because he can get the puck going for them.
It makes our third pair way better just because of the type of player Polie is and you give him Dermy… he’s just got to pass the puck over and they’re out. They’re better together than they would be apart, is what I’m saying.
Matchup Stats
| TOR | MTL | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 48-26-7 (103) | 29-39-13 (71) |
| GF/g | 3.28 (5th) | 2.53 (30th) |
| GA/g | 2.81 (12th) | 3.14 (25th) |
| PP% | 24.6% (2nd) | 21.2% (13th) |
| PK% | 81.5 % (11th) | 74.4% (30th) |
| Shots/g | 32.2 (15th) | 32.8 (9th) |
| Shots Against/g | 33.9 (28th) | 32.3 (19th) |
| 5v5 CF% | 49.8% (17th) | 50.5% (15th) |
| 5v5 SV% | .928 (6th) | .922 (18th) |
| 5v5 SH% | 9.0% (2nd) | 6.3% (30th) |
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup
Forwards
Hyman – Matthews – Nylander
(81-14-25-39) – (61-33-28-61) – (81-20-40-60) Total: 67
Marleau – Kadri – Marner
(81-25-19-45) – (79-31-23-54) – (81-22-47-69) Total: 78
Van Riemsdyk – Bozak – Brown
(81-36-18-54) – (80-11-31-42) – (81-14-14-28) Total: 61
Komarov – Plekanec – Kapanen
(73-7-12-19) – (76-6-20-26) – (37-7-2-9) Total: 20
Defencemen
Rielly – Hainsey
(74-6-45-51) –( 79-4-19-23) Total: 10
Gardiner – Zaitsev
(80-5-45-50) – (58-5-8-13) Total: 10
Dermott – Polak
(36-1-12-13) – (53-2-10-12) – Total: 3
Goaltenders
Andersen (.917 sv%)
McElhinney (.934 sv%)
Scratched: Moore, Leivo, Martin, Johnsson
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
Forwards
Byron – Drouin – Gallagher
(81-20-15-35) – (76-13-32-45) – (81-31-22-53) Total: 64
Galchenyuk – De la Rose – Lehkonen
(81-19-32-51) – (54-4-18-22) – (65-12-9-21 Total: 35
Rychel – L. Shaw – Hudon
(3-1-0-1) – (29-2-4-6) – (72-10-20-30) Total: 13
Carr – McCarron – Deslauriers
(37-5-10-15) – (17-0-0-0) – (57-10-4-14) Total: 14
Defencemen
Schlemko – Petry
(37-1-4-5) – (81-11-30-41) Total: 12
Alzner – Juulsen
(81-1-11-12) – (22-1-2-3) Total: 2
Rielly – Lernout
(18-0-8-8) – (17-0-1-1) Total: 0
Goaltenders
Price (.901 sv%)
Niemi (.929 sv%)
Injured: Weber, Hemsky, Danault, Pacioretty, A. Shaw, Mete, Scherbak
