The Maple Leafs are looking to bounce back from a hard-fought, tough-luck loss in Carolina in a tired situation for both clubs tonight as they close out their five-game road trip in Nashville (6:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet Ontario).
Head to Head: Predators vs. Maple Leafs
In the season-to-date statistics, the Leafs hold the advantage over the Predators in five out of five offensive categories and three out of five defensive categories.
Game Day Quotes
Sheldon Keefe on Auston Matthews’ play of late:
He is right back to being one of the most dominant players in the league — physically dominant, hard on the puck, winning battles, making plays, and getting to good spots. He has been terrific.
Auston Matthews on whether he feels like he is in a good place with his game at the moment:
Personally, I am feeling good. I am feeling confident. I am linking really well with my teammates. We are not satisfied with last night’s result, but we are right back at it with another opportunity to end the road trip on a good note.
Morgan Rielly on Matthews’ game coming on strong of late:
He is playing great for us. He is feeling it. He is putting pucks on net. It is a good sign for our team. He is one of the best players in the world, so when he is going, our team tends to play well.
Calle Jarnkrok on the play of the top line recently:
I think we are playing well. We are working hard for each other out there. We are finding each other. It is going well.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#19 Calle Järnkrok – #34 Auston Matthews – #16 Mitch Marner
#15 Alex Kerfoot – #91 John Tavares – #88 William Nylander
#58 Michael Bunting – #52 Noel Acciari – #28 Sam Lafferty
#12 Zach Aston-Reese – #64 David Kämpf – #24 Wayne Simmonds
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe – #78 T.J Brodie
#44 Morgan Rielly – #2 Luke Schenn
#55 Mark Giordano – #3 Justin Holl
#37 Timothy Liljegren
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joe Woll
#30 Matt Murray
Extras: Erik Gustafsson
Injured: Ryan O’Reilly, Bobby McMann, Nick Robertson, Jake Muzzin, Victor Mete
Nashville Predators Projected Lines
Forwards
#26 Philip Tomasino – #8 Cody Glass – #95 Matt Duchene
#44 Kiefer Sherwood – #82 Thomas Novak – #77 Luke Evangelista
#13 Yakov Trenin – #10 Colton Sissons – #36 Cole Smith
#70 Egor Afanasyev – #17 Mark Jankowski – #71 Rasmus Asplund
Defensemen
#27 Ryan McDonagh – #57 Dante Fabbro
#22 Tyson Barrie – #46 Jordan Gross
#3 Jeremy Lauzon – #52 Cal Foote
Goaltenders
Starter: #32 Kevin Lankinen
#74 Juuse Saros
Injured: Jake Gardiner, Ondrej Kase, Max Pacioretty, Andrei Svechnikov, Antti Raanta
