Martin Jones will remain in goal and Pontus Holmberg will enter the lineup in place of Nick Robertson as the Maple Leafs look to avoid the trap game against a rested Anaheim team (9:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet).
Game Day Quotes
Sheldon Keefe on the decision to start Martin Jones for the second consecutive night:
He feels good coming off of last night. From our end, we are trying to build some positive momentum as a team. We had a good team effort last night. We are going to keep Jonesy going.
We had been talking even before the game last night about it. On a back-to-back, usually, you don’t go back to the same guy. It is worth a conversation. Especially given the unique circumstances — there was no travel last night and somewhat of a light load in the game by NHL standards — it was worth a discussion for sure.
In Hildeby’s case, we want to get him some experience and get him in the net at some point here. We are going to likely need him. The overriding thing for me is that we want to build some positive momentum as a team here with the way things have gone of late.
Give the unique circumstances of the back-to-back, it made it a pretty easy decision.
Keefe on the team’s struggles against teams at the bottom of the standings:
It has been an ongoing conversation. I guess you could connect it to the goaltending situation. It is hard for us to have that conversation on one end and on the other side go with a goalie who has never played in the league when you have another guy coming off of a shutout.
That is definitely a part of it. We want to build positive momentum as a group, but in particular, in these types of games, we have to be ready. We have to be sharp. We have done pretty well off the start of these games in taking control of the game. We haven’t managed it well after that.
This team tonight is one — like any other — that you have to respect and be prepared for. Not long ago, just last week, they built Vegas in this building and built a 4-1 lead. They have beat Vegas, Carolina, and Boston. As with any team in the league, they can beat anyone on any given night. We have to respect that process and look to build off of what we did last night.
Keefe on swapping Pontus Holmberg for Nick Robertson:
We were reluctant to make any changes because we played so well as a group last night, but Holmberg did a really good job in the Carolina game. We are looking for ways to keep him involved.
If there was anything last night I wasn’t happy with, I thought the Domi group could’ve given us a little bit more. We’ll get Holmberg back involved on the left wing with Max.
Ducks head coach Greg Cronin on the challenge against the Leafs:
It’s got to be a tight-checking game. Make sure you are below the puck on 50-50 puck battles.
They are really good at timing their exits. They’ll blow the zone. If you have some possessions offensively, they get the puck off the rebounds, walls, and turnovers. They leave, and they can turn it into a track meet game.
If you are not aware of that — in particular, as a defenseman — and you are not responsible with the puck, you can chase a lot of the game.
Cronin on the process of teaching a young rebuilding team how to compete in the league:
You are trying to create a developmental model around an NHL group. Some nights, we look like we’ve figured it out and we have it. Some nights, it looks like we are caught in between.
Hopefully, tonight, we will be aggressive and on our toes. I call it a precise way of playing hockey. You can’t play these teams and not be precise with your routes and your defensive responsibilities.
Head-to-Head Stats: Maple Leafs vs. Ducks
In the season-to-date statistics, the Leafs hold the advantage over the Ducks in five out of five offensive categories and three out of five defensive categories.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies – #34 Auston Matthews – #16 Mitch Marner
#59 Tyler Bertuzzi – #91 John Tavares – #88 William Nylander
#29 Pontus Holmberg – #11 Max Domi – #19 Calle Jarnkrok
#74 Bobby McMann – #64 David Kampf – #18 Noah Gregor
Defensemen
#44 Morgan Rielly – #78 TJ Brodie
#22 Jake McCabe – #2 Simon Benoit
#55 Mark Giordano – #37 Timothy Liljegren
Goaltenders
Starter: #31 Martin Jones
#41 Dennis Hildeby
Scratched: Conor Timmins, William Lagesson, Nick Robertson
Injured: Joseph Woll, Ryan Reaves
Anaheim Ducks Projected Lines
Forwards
#17 Alex Killorn – #23 Mason McTavish – #77 Frank Vatrano
#49 Max Jones – #11 Trevor Zegras – #16 Ryan Strome
#14 Adam Henrique – #21 Isac Lundestrom – #20 Brett Leason
#26 Brock McGinn – #39 Sam Carrick – #33 Jakob Silfverberg
Defensemen
#4 Cam Fowler – #6 Jamie Drysdale
#5 Urho Vaakanainen – #7 Radko Gudas
#34 Pavel Mintyukov – #46 Ilya Lyubushkin
Goaltenders
Starter: #1 Lukas Dostal
#36 John Gibson
Injured: Leo Carlsson, Troy Terry
