Scott Laughton returns to the lineup as the Maple Leafs attempt to avenge a 6-3 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier this season (7:00 p.m. EST, TSN4).
Game Day Quotes
Scott Laughton on returning from his second injury of the season:
You come back for two games or five periods, and it is obviously not ideal. You stay in the right mindset. It is hard sometimes, but you stay on top of things. It gives my other injury a little bit more time to heal. You just do the things you have to do off the ice to be ready.
I have never been in this situation before in my career. I have missed a couple of games here and there. In the last five or so years, I haven’t had to deal with it. It is something new, but you try to stay grounded. The staff has been great with me in helping me get ready.
I am pretty pumped to get back here and get going.
Laughton on rekindling his chemistry with Steven Lorentz and Easton Cowan from preseason/camp:
We chatted about it this morning already. We have to find it again and continue to talk. I have been playing with Stevie since I got here. Cowboy is playing with a lot of energy. We have to continue that, read off each other, play with energy, play with speed, get in on the forecheck, and change the momentum of games by keeping teams in the offensive zone.
Laughton on Easton Cowan’s rookie season so far:
He has found a way to create. He almost had an unbelievable goal last game. He has been in different roles and has handled himself well.
It is hard coming from junior. It is a lot different. The schedule has been condensed this year. There is a lot of traveling to new places, and there is a lot away from the rink that people don’t realize is different.
He has handled it extremely well. Great kid, and awesome to see him get an opportunity.
Calle Jarnkrok on whether he speaks Swedish to William Nylander when they’re on the same line:
He’s Canadian, so…
Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason on facing a thus-far-inconsistent Leafs team:
They’re like us. They’re trying to figure out how to play straight and hard. Chief and I have been in the same leagues. It’s the same thought process. I am not speaking for him, but it sounds like it is very similar to what we’re talking about.
Evason on his team’s 6-3 win over the Leafs on October 29:
They were in a back-to-back, right? We caught them a little bit. You can talk to you’re blue in the face that it doesn’t matter, but these athletes are so incredibly fast and intense that if there is a little bit off on a given night with a team, the other team seems to take advantage of it.
The score was really good for us in that game, but we have to play better than we did in that game. We know they’re going to be better.
Evason on his team’s 10-8-2 start:
Work ethic has been fantastic. Structurally, we’ve been fine. Sometimes, we’ve shot ourselves a little bit with some play, some turnovers, and some uncharacteristic things that have seemed to filter in to start. But we are seeing really good signs. The desire, the drive, and the work is there.
Craig Berube on the keys to building on Tuesday’s win over St. Louis:
A lot of the same. Defensively, I thought we were a lot better and a lot tighter. I liked our first period and our start to the game. We have to continue to focus on the little things and focus on the first period tonight. We know what Columbus is all about. We are going to have to be a tight-checking group tonight.
Berube on the newly-formed Nylander-Tavares-Jarnkrok line:
A little bit for matchups, and there is the familiarity that Willy and Calle have together.
Jarnkrok is a valuable guy. He does a lot of valuable things night in and night out that go unnoticed. We notice, but maybe you guys don’t, or the fans. He is a good penalty killer and a hard worker. He does a lot of little things right all over the ice. He can complement every line in certain ways. He’s valuable.
Maple Leafs (9-9-2) vs. Blue Jackets (10-8-2): Head-to-Head Stats
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#88 William Nylander – #91 John Tavares – #19 Calle Jarnkrok
#74 Bobby McMann – #11 Max Domi – #89 Nick Robertson
#18 Steven Lorentz – #24 Scott Laughton – #53 Easton Cowan
#81 Dakota Joshua – #26 Jacob Quillan – #63 Matias Maccelli
Defensemen
#44 Morgan Rielly — #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
#2 Simon Benoit – #22 Jake McCabe
#36 Dakota Mermis – #28 Troy Stecher
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joseph Woll
#35 Dennis Hildeby
Extras: Philippe Myers
Injured: Matthew Knies (day-to-day), Nicolas Roy (day-to-day), Brandon Carlo (IR), Anthony Stolarz (IR), Auston Matthews (IR), Chris Tanev (LTIR)
Columbus Blue Jackets Projected Lines
Forwards
#10 Dmitri Voronskov – #19 Adam Fantilli – #86 Kirill Marchenko
#11 Miles Wood – #23 Sean Monahan – #91 Kent Johnson
#4 Cole Sillinger – #3 Charlie Coyle – #24 Mathieu Olivier
#59 Yegor Chinakhov – #65 Luca Del Bel Belluz – #21 Isac Lundestrom
Defensemen
#8 Zach Werenski – #9 Ivan Provorov
#5 Denton Mateychuk – #78 Damon Severson
#15 Dante Fabbro – #2 Jake Christiansen
Goaltenders
Starter: #73 Jet Greaves
#90 Elvis Merzlikins
Injured/Out: Boone Jenner, Erik Gudbranson
