Jani Hakanpää and Alex Steeves make their Maple Leafs and season debuts, respectively, as a tired Toronto team seeks a rebound effort against the well-rested 10-4-0 Washington Capitals (7:30 p.m. EST, Sportsnet).
Game Day Quotes
Spencer Carbery on his expectations for William Nylander tonight after a tough game vs. Ottawa, based on his past experience coaching Nylander in Toronto:
I told our staff this morning, “Look for William Nylander to be very, very on the [ball] tonight.” He will be very motivated in tonight’s game.
Carbery on his team’s 0-3 record vs. the Leafs last season:
The games did not go as planned last year. I went back and looked at them all. They are independent stories of one another.
We are a different team than we were last year, so I would say that’s point number one. With the coaching change, there are some things that they do differently as a team that we have to be aware of.
What went on last year… I would love to get a win against a team that I was a part of for a couple of years, but as far as the preparation and what we do, I think it is independent of the Leafs.
Craig Berube on his expectations for the team tonight coming off the lacklustre 3-0 loss to Ottawa:
A better start to the game. We got scored on in the first shift off of a turnover. We didn’t play the rush very well. We have to have a better start, for sure. We didn’t really recover from that start, in my opinion. They carried play until the third period.
For me, we got outskated in the game. Their compete level was higher than ours. That caused most of the problems. From a tactical standpoint, when you are getting outskated and outcompeted, it causes a lot of problems in your system.
Berube on William Nylander’s role in the 1-0 goal against on the first shift vs. Ottawa:
It is not all on Willy. The whole play bothered me. We had a D up in the play in that situation, and there was no reason for it. We didn’t manage it early. It bit us.
It is not on one guy. It is the whole team. I wasn’t happy with our team.
Berube on Alex Steeves earning an opportunity to make his season debut:
He has played extremely well down in the minors. When I have seen him in camp with us, he is a worker and he has some skill, too. He is leading the league in goals in the minors.
He is a guy who battles. He is competitive. He works extremely hard. And he has the ability to put the puck in the net.
Berube on managing Jani Hakanpää’s minutes in his first NHL game since March 16:
It is kind of a “feel” situation and a “see” situation, I suppose, as you go along. We will see what he looks like, how his feet are, and his timing. We will watch that closely tonight and see where he is at.
Berube on the challenge presented by the Capitals:
When I watch them, they have some real stars on the team and are a big and heavy team. They have scored a lot off the rush this year. We have to do a good job off the rush coming out of their zone.
Their D are very active. Their power play is going well, too, so they are dangerous in that aspect. They are scoring goals. We have to be tight-checking. We can’t be giving up odd-man rushes tonight. We have to control the play.
Morgan Rielly on the need to respond after last night’s loss:
I expect our group to be ready. We are not happy with how we played last night. We talked about it this morning. The good thing is that we are back at work today with a chance to respond.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson on reaching the 1,000-game milestone:
To be honest with you, I haven’t thought a lot about it. As we are standing here talking about it, it feels special. You always dream of the chance to play one game in the NHL. I have had the chance to play 1,000. It is special.
I have a lot of people to thank that I am standing here. I can’t name names because I would forget a lot of people, but I am very thankful for every single game.
OEL on the need to respond after last night’s loss:
That was not the way we want to play. We looked pretty slow out there. We didn’t create a lot of chances or really defend. We are looking for a different game tonight and to get back to what we need to do to be successful. It is that grind game, playing fast, and defending hard.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#74 Bobby McMann — #91 John Tavares — #16 Mitch Marner
#23 Matthew Knies — #11 Max Domi — #88 William Nylander
#46 Alex Steeves — #64 David Kampf — #29 Pontus Holmberg
#24 Connor Dewar — #18 Steven Lorentz — #75 Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe — #8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly — #28 Jani Hakanpää
#95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson — #25 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joseph Woll
#41 Anthony Stolarz
Extras: Nick Robertson, Simon Benoit, Philippe Myers
Injured (IR): Auston Matthews, Max Pacioretty
Injured (LTIR): Calle Jarnkrok, Dakota Mermis
Washington Capitals Projected Lines
Forwards
#8 Alex Ovechkin — #17 Dylan Strome — #21 Aliaksei Protas
#24 Connor McMichael — #80 Pierre-Luc Dubois — #43 Tom Wilson
#88 Andrew Mangiapane — #29 Hendrix Lapierre — #13 Jakub Vrana
#22 Brandon Duhaime — #26 Nic Dowd — #16 Taylor Raddysh
Defensemen
#6 Jakob Chychrun — #74 John Carlson
#38 Rasmus Sandin — #3 Matt Roy
#42 Martin Fehervary — #57 Trevor van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
Starter: #48 Logan Thompson
#79 Charlie Lindgren
Injured: Nicklas Backstrom, TJ Oshie, Sonny Milano
