The Maple Leafs are looking for a similar result but a better 60-minute process in the rematch against the Flyers tonight in Philadelphia (7:30 p.m. EST, Sportsnet Ontario).
It wouldn’t make much sense to have Ryan Reaves on the NHL roster — if you’re going to have Ryan Reaves on the NHL roster — and not insert him for a game following the Jake McCabe-Garnet Hathaway incident Sunday’s 3-2 overtime win for the Leafs. It means the fourth line, which was trending in a positive direction, will be broken up tonight, and someone needs to sit up front.
Reaves and Hathaway go at it pic.twitter.com/u38fsgeED3
— ginge (@smokingleafs) March 18, 2023
It turns out Nick Robertson will be scratched after he played just eight minutes and change in Sunday’s win. Steven Lorentz will move up Robertson’s place at 3RW, and Bobby McMann and Max Pacioretty will switch wings on the left side.
The second line of Pacioretty – Tavares – Nylander was not showing much life in the two games since Auston Matthews’ return, so the result is that all lines but the top line that’s produced four five-on-five goals in the last two games — Knies-Matthews-Marner — will be tweaked ahead of this Leafs vs. Flyers rematch. McMann will look to bring some speed and an offensive spark to the Tavares-Nylander line.
On the backend, with Jake McCabe (IR) out until at least January 12 with an apparent head injury, the Leafs will keep Rielly-Myers together, reunite the familiar Benoit-Timmins pairing, and pair off OEL-Tanev. Anthony Petrielli made a good argument this morning for a different approach (Rielly-Tanev / OEL-Myers), but the silver lining of McCabe’s unfortunate absence, regardless of the pairing configuration, is that the Leafs will have three lefties and three righties in the lineup on defense, with OEL returning to his strong side.
Game Day Quotes
John Tortorella on facing the Leafs in the second half of a home-and-home:
I don’t read too much into playing them back-to-back. I know it is a good team — a good team that I thought we played really well against the other night.
I know Chief pretty well. He will have his guys ready to go. It is another good test for us tonight.
Tortorella on Garnet Hathaway’s physicality in Sunday’s game:
He does it every game.
Physicality… We get shocked when there is a body check, but that is his game.
Tortorella on Max Domi’s retaliatory elbow on Hathaway after the Jake McCabe incident:
No opinion.
Hathaway on the fight with McCabe and the resulting injury:
I didn’t know what happened until seeing it after the game. I was already headed to the locker room, so I didn’t know what happened. I just hope he’s OK, honestly.
Craig Berube on the lineup tweaks up front:
I wanted to add a little bit more speed to Tavares’ line. Bobby McMann has been playing really well. That line with Domi, Bobby, and Robby has been really good for us, but Robby is not in tonight. We are moving guys around a little bit.
Berube on inserting Ryan Reaves into the lineup:
I just wanted a bigger, more physical lineup tonight — going off of the last game, too. Reavo has been out for a few games, so I wanted to get him back in.
There were some pretty big hits last game. We have to be prepared. I wanted to go with a more physical and heavier lineup tonight.
Berube on whether Garnet Hathaway has been a point of discussion after the last game:
I don’t talk about him at all, really.
We know what kind of a player he is. He is a hard player and does a good job of it. He is physical, and we know he is going to be physical. He is not going to shy away from it. We just have to be prepared for it.
We don’t want to react. We want to initiate. That is the biggest thing: not reacting and taking retaliatory penalties. You are going to get hit in this league, and things are going to happen. It is about being disciplined.
Bobby McMann on the opportunity next to John Tavares and William Nylander:
Just exceptional players. I will try to get them the puck and get in on the forecheck. Nothing really changes for my game. It is just about competing hard, trying to win battles, and getting the puck on our sticks.
Head-to-Head Stats: Maple Leafs (26-13-2) vs. Flyers (17-19-4)
In the 2024-25 regular season statistics, Toronto holds the advantage in three 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
#74 Bobby McMann — #91 John Tavares — #88 William Nylander
#67 Max Pacioretty — #11 Max Domi — #18 Steven Lorentz
#24 Connor Dewar — #64 David Kampf — #75 Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
#95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson — #8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly — #51 Philippe Myers
#2 Simon Benoit — #25 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joseph Woll
#35 Dennis Hildeby
Extras: Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg
Injured (IR): Jake McCabe, Anthony Stolarz
Injured (LTIR): Calle Jarnkrok, Jani Hakanpää
Philadelphia Flyers Projected Lines
Forwards
#74 Owen Tippett — #25 Ryan Poehling — #11 Travis Konecny
#21 Scott Laughton — #48 Morgan Frost — #39 Matvei Michkov
#71 Tyson Foerster — #27 Noah Cates — #10 Bobby Brink
#86 Joel Farabee — #14 Sean Couturier — #19 Garnet Hathaway
Defensemen
#8 Cam York — #6 Travis Sanheim
#5 Egor Zamula — #55 Rasmus Ristolainen
#24 Nick Seeler — #9 Jamie Drysdale
Goaltenders
Starter: #82 Ivan Fedotov
#35 Aleksei Kolosov
Injured: Samuel Ersson
