With Auston Matthews out for up to a week, the adversity keeps piling up for the Maple Leafs, who need to find a will and a way against the road warrior LA Kings (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet Ontario).
Game Day Quotes
Kings head coach Jim Hiller on the difference in the challenge against the Leafs with Auston Matthews out of the lineup:
We are not going to approach it too much (differently). The power play will look a little different for them. But we know they are going to come out, forecheck, put pucks in, and be physical. I don’t think it is going to change their game much. We’ll just be aware on the power play.
They play hard. They’re going to forecheck. It is going to be a tough game. They had a pretty good skate this morning; we watched a little bit of it. They’ll be ready to play.
Drew Doughty on his annual visit to Toronto:
I love coming back here and playing. I’ll have a lot of friends and family in the stands. I always get up for this one. It is always a lot of fun, and I always play well here.
Doughty on the absence of Matthews:
It doesn’t change anything. Teams get themselves in trouble when they know they don’t have a top player in, go out, and think about it. Things don’t go your way. We’ll just treat the game the exact same way. We know they’ve been struggling, and their coach has been pushing them. We expect them to come out with a tough game tonight. We’ll be ready.
Anze Kopitar on his last visit to Toronto in his NHL career:
It is a very passionate group of fans. Coming here is always a little extra special. Tonight will be no different.
Craig Berube on the challenge presented by the Kings:
Big team. They have size up the middle, obviously, with Kopitar and Byfield. They’er two big centermen. It’s a veteran D core back there. They don’t give you a lot, and their PK is excellent. It will be key for our power play to do a good job tonight; special teams will be important.
For me, it is about managing the game. We are going to have to be patient in this game, and we are going to have to work for our chances. At the same time, we can’t force things and put ourselves in tough situations. Patience and managing the game are going to be important tonight.
Berube on what Dakota Mermis can bring to the blue line:
He moves the puck fairly well. He is a good skater, and he has good experience. We have used him in the past. We just wanted to make a switch on D.
Berube on Tavares, whose minutes are down slightly this season, needing to step into a bigger-minute role in Auston Matthews’ absence:
The minutes are not down a whole lot from last year. He is in tremendous shape. I don’t think it’ll be an issue if I need to use him more.
Matthew Knies on the mood of the team coming off three straight regulation losses:
We are just eager to climb back out of it and get on the winning side. It is not a great feeling to be in this kind of stretch. Everyone is itching to win, play hard, and play hard for each other.
William Nylander on the news of Anthony Stolarz and Auston Matthews missing time through injury:
Tough guys to lose, but to be a good team, you have to win games in these situations. We are facing some adversity, and that is just going to build character.
Maple Leafs (8-8-1) vs. Kings (8-5-4): Head-to-Head Stats
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies – #91 John Tavares – #88 William Nylander
#74 Bobby McMann – #11 Max Domi – #89 Nick Robertson
#81 Dakota Joshua – #55 Nicolas Roy – #63 Matias Maccelli
#79 Sammy Blais – #18 Steven Lorentz – #19 Calle Jarnkrok
Defensemen
#44 Morgan Rielly — #25 Brandon Carlo
#2 Simon Benoit – #22 Jake McCabe
#36 Dakota Mermis – #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Goaltenders
Starter: #35 Dennis Hildeby
#70 Artur Akhytamov
Extras: Philippe Myers
Injured/Out: Auston Matthews (day-to-day), Anthony Stolarz (day-to-day), Scott Laughton (IR), Chris Tanev (IR)
LA Kings Projected Lines
Forwards
#40 Joel Armia – #11 Anze Kopitar – #9 Adrian Kempe
#22 Kevin Fiala – #55 Quinton Byfield – #14 Alex Laferriere
#37 Warren Foegele – #24 Phillip Danault – #12 Trevor Moore
#39 Jeff Malott – #15 Alex Turcotte – #10 Corey Perry
Defensemen
#44 Mikey Anderson – #8 Drew Doughty
#6 Joel Edmundson – #92 Brandt Clarke
#2 Brian Dumoulin – #5 Cody Ceci
Goaltenders
Starter: #35 Darcy Kuemper
#31 Anton Forsberg
