Joseph Woll will make his second start of the season as the 5-4-1 Maple Leafs look to build on an impressive road win over the Winnipeg Jets back on home ice against the 5-4-1 Seattle Kraken (7:00 p.m. EST, TSN4).
Official line combinations will not be known until line rushes in warmups, but based on his limited participation in the morning skate, Nick Robertson could re-enter the lineup after a healthy scratch in Winnipeg, either on the third line in Pontus Holmberg’s place or on the fourth line in Ryan Reaves’ place.
Nick Robertson is NOT staying out late at Leafs skate
It appears he will draw back in tonight against Kraken @TSN_Edge
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 31, 2024
Dating back to the start of the Bruins series, Robertson has just one point (a goal in garbage time versus the Blue Jackets) in his last 15 games after finishing the 2023-24 regular season with five goals and seven points in his final 11. He lit up the preseason with five goals in four games, but he has shot just 6.7% so far in the regular season to go along with a team on-ice shooting percentage of just 8.3%; last season, Robertson scored on 14.6% of his shots.
With John Tavares moving onto a line with William Nylander and Max Pacioretty (with great early results in Winnipeg), Robertson will have a new centerman to play with, one way or another. If he’s on the fourth line, he’s in a tough spot to produce and will need to be opportunistic and take advantage of any power-play time he receives.
Robertson played a fair bit last season in a third-line role with Max Domi, either on Domi’s right side with Noah Gergor on the left or on Domi’s left side with Calle Jarnkrok on the right. Notably, Domi picked up the primary assist on five of Robertson’s goals last season. The two play the game at a similar pace and are a natural playmaking-shooter combination, but they would need to play to the Berube identity by being hard on the puck down low in the offensive zone and responsible defensively (if Robertson were to enter the lineup on Domi’s wing).
On the Kraken side of the matchup, big summer signing Brandon Montour will be absent due to the birth of his child, as Cale Fleury enters the lineup in his place and is expected to fill his spot on the power play.
Game Day Quotes
Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma on Burlington native Shane Wright’s first NHL game in Toronto:
It is a hometown game not just for Shane but for Tanev and for McCann. They are always big games and important games when you are coming back home. This one is the first time for Shane coming to Toronto to do it. It will be special.
Chris Tanev on whether the matchup against his brother, Brandon, carries extra weight when he’s wearing a Leafs jersey and the game is in Toronto:
I don’t think it is going to change much. I am trying to beat him. He is trying to beat me. We grew up competing against each other in pretty much everything we do. I don’t think it has changed much over the course of our lives.
Earlier in my career, his teams definitely got the better of mine. Lately, it has sort of changed a little bit. I don’t know the exact head-to-head battle, but hopefully, it continues to go in my favour this week.
Craig Berube on the challenge presented by the Kraken:
They are a very quick team. They play fast. They have some really quick forwards with some skill and ability. They have a good record on the road at 3-1-0. We have to focus on our game and bring what we brought to Winnipeg at five-on-five.
Bobby McMann on the areas of emphasis for tonight’s game:
We know the skill that they have could hit us at any point. It is just about playing the right way and sticking with what was working in Winnipeg, playing hard, and not giving their top players much.
Bylsma on Cale Fleury stepping into the lineup during Brandon Montour’s absence:
I have a lot of experience with Cale over the last handful of years and a lot of trust and confidence in his game. That goes for the power play as well. He is going to be able to step in and know exactly what we are doing in terms of breakouts and what we are trying to accomplish. He should be full confidence to deliver tonight.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies — #34 Auston Matthews — #16 Mitch Marner
#67 Max Pacioretty — #91 John Tavares — #88 William Nylander
#74 Bobby McMann — #11 Max Domi — #29 Pontus Holmberg
#18 Steven Lorentz — #64 David Kampf — #89 Nick Robertson
Defensemen
#44 Morgan Rielly — #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
#22 Jake McCabe — #8 Chris Tanev
#2 Simon Benoit — #25 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
#60 Joseph Woll
#41 Anthony Stolarz
Extras: Philippe Myers, Ryan Reaves, Matt Benning
Injured (LTIR): Calle Jarnkrok, Jani Hakanpaa, Connor Dewar, Dakota Mermis
Seattle Kraken Projected Lines
Forwards
#19 Jared McCann — #10 Matty Beniers — #7 Jordan Eberle
#20 Eeli Tolvanen — #9 Chandler Stephenson — #95 Andre Burakovsky
#17 Jaden Schwartz — #51 Shane Wright — #22 Oliver Bjorkstrand
#52 Tye Kartye — #37 Yanni Gourde — #13 Brandon Tanev
Defensemen
#39 Ryker Evans — #6 Adam Larsson
#24 Jamie Oleksiak — #8 Cale Fleury
#28 Josh Mahura — #3 Will Borgen
Goaltenders
#35 Joey Daccord
#31 Philipp Grubauer
Out: Brandon Montour
Injured: Vince Dunn
