What may well be the Maple Leafs’ full opening-night lineup will host the Detroit Red Wings in the penultimate preseason game tonight in Toronto (7:00 p.m., Sportsnet One).
Game Day Quotes
Craig Berube on the expectations for Max Domi on the Matthews line:
I have to see it more in the games, but they have been fine in practice.
We have to let Max play his game and do what he is good at, but at the same time, he has to change a little bit. I need him to get inside more and shoot more.
It can’t be all about looking for Matthews or Knies with plays. We need him to make plays, but at the same time, he has to shoot pucks and use his shot.
We need him to be a bulldog out there. I need him to be responsible defensively, just like I need every player ot be responsible defensively.
Berube on shifting Simon Benoit to the right in camp and preseason:
Oliver Ekman-Larsson has some good offensive abilities, right? On the right side, at times… It is more so in the offensive zone, where it is a little tougher to get the puck off the wall and create more offense. That was really the only thing we were looking at — that side of it.
If it doesn’t work, it is an easy switch. He has played the right before. But that is kind of what we’re thinking.
Simon Benoit on his return to the lineup:
It’ll be good to get back into a game, get your habits back, and get up to the speed of the game. It is fun to be back with the boys on the ice. It’s why we play hockey, right?
It is the first game. We’ll get the rust out a little bit, get the timing back, and play simple.
Benoit on his partnership with Oliver Ekman-Larsson:
I think our game is pretty simple. O is a great puck mover. My job is to get him the puck, right? Retrieving those pucks, being physical, and getting those pucks to him so he can make nice plays and create some offense off of it.
OEL on the return of Benoit:
It is great to have him back. He looks good. He has been skating with us for a couple of days.
We can start building some chemistry going into the season, feeding off of last year and what we built up.
OEL on what he appreciates about Benoit’s game:
The work he puts in, both in practice and games, stands out with Benny. He plays a tough game. He is good with the puck, too.
As a D pair, we try to keep it simple, play hard, be hard to play against, and chip in when we can. That is our mindset. As I said, we want to get better at it and build off last year.
Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan on his team bouncing back with a win over Chicago on Tuesday, following three straight preseason losses:
[Tuesday’s win] was important for a number of different reasons.
We had some conversations with some players. Dylan Larkin was not one of them, although he really stepped up and provided good leadership. He made sure this game was important for everybody involved, and I thought he played like that, so that was tremendous to have your captain do that.
Some of the players that had some ugly nights prior, we laid a roadmap out for them – where they were situated – and they responded with some good games.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies – #34 Auston Matthews – #11 Max Domi
#74 Bobby McMann – #91 John Tavares – #88 William Nylander
#81 Dakota Joshua – #55 Nicolas Roy – #63 Matias Maccelli
#18 Steven Lorentz – #24 Scott Laughton – #53 Eason Cowan
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe – #8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly – #25 Brandon Carlo
#95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson – #2 Simon Benoit
Goaltenders
#41 Anthony Stolarz
#35 Dennis Hildeby
Detroit Red Wings Projected Lines
Forwards
#18 Andrew Copp – #71 Dylan Larkin – #23 Lucas Raymond
#93 Alex DeBrincat – #92 Marco Kasper – #88 Patrick Kane***
#85 Elmer Soderblom – #37 JT Compher*** – #22 Mason Appleton
#58 Emmitt Finnie – #27 Michael Rasmussen – #48 Jonatan Berggren
Defensemen
#8 Ben Chiarot – #53 Moritz Seider
#77 Simon Edvinsson – #20 Albert Johansson
#56 Erik Gustafsson – #44 Axel Sandin Pellikka
Goaltenders
#39 Cam Talbot
#35 Michal Postava
***skated on the line in the morning skate, but not confirmed for the game
