Despite their rollercoaster of a season to date, the Maple Leafs could pull within two points of the top spot in the Atlantic Division with a regulation win over the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at Scotiabank Arena (7:30 p.m. EST, Amazon Prime).
Game Day Quotes
Victor Hedman on the challenge presented by the Leafs:
They’re good with time and space; they’re going to burn you. Our D play away from the puck is going to be very important, and our puck management, especially high in the offensive zone, and not turning pucks over there.
We haven’t seen them without Mitch. It will be interesting to see.
Craig Berube on the challenge presented by the Lightning, who are at the top of the Atlantic Division despite some injury adversity:
A lot of injuries, but they have some elite players. They have that core there still, with their goalie, too. They’re a very good rush team. We all know they can make plays. They’re dynamic. Their power play can be dynamic.
We are going to have to be disciplined, but we are going to have to do a good job on our PK tonight. We are going to have to do a good job against their skilled forwards tonight. Hedman is back, too, so it is a challenge.
Berube on swapping Dakota Mermis into the lineup for Philippe Myers:
I think with Mermis and Myers, they play three or four, and it is time to make a change. That is basically it. They both have come in and done a good job for us, but you have to manage their extended play a little bit.
Mermis is good. He’s done a good job. He plays with some snarl out there. It’s simple movement with the puck. He has the ability to play on the right side as a left shot.
Berube on swapping Calle Jarnkrok for Nick Robertson, and the message to Robertson as he heads to the press box:
More penalty killing with Jarnkrok. It is a good power play over there (in Tampa), and I just wanted an extra killer in tonight. That line — Laughton, Lorentz, and Jarnkrok — is a good checking line for us, too. We’ll need that.
[Robertson’s game] has dropped off. I talked to Nicky this morning. Some of it is ice time, obviously. He was playing in the top six and was doing a good job. You make changes, but I have all the confidence that he will get it back. To me, he has lost a little bit of his jump and tenacity. At the same time, it is a little bit of ice time and getting the opportunity, too.
Berube on returning to the Rielly-Matthews-Tavares-Nylander-Knies top power-play unit:
I went back to this unit, looking at some video and some numbers early on in the year. These guys were actually pretty good. They created a lot of opportunities. It didn’t go in the net. A lot of the time, when it doesn’t go in the net, you make changes and go from there. That was my reasoning for that.
Jon Cooper on ex-Leaf Pontus Holmberg’s fit in Tampa:
Oh, wow. I love that kid. His strength on his skates and the puck with how he protects it — you can’t take it from him. When you need to kill another team’s momentum, just put it on his stick, and he will do it all by himself.
He is a competitor. He is big and strong. He is a foundation of a really good line for us that may not score every single night, but it can tilt the ice. He is a big part of it.
Cooper on his team’s ability to withstand injuries this season and collect points (until their recent three-game losing streak):
If you take away a little bit of a disastrous start — we won one of our first seven — I’ve really liked the way we’ve played. Every team gets injuries. For us personally, going back to 2017, I don’t remember — even through our Cup runs and all of that — this ever happening to us. There is a lot of money sitting in the stands, but it is encouraging to see the young guys who have come in and filled the gaps for us.
Our compete level has been pretty darn good. It is unfortunate that we’ve lost three in a row, but the coach is mad at the result and not at the effort or way we’ve played. It is one of those things where we are not getting points, but we are doing well. Hopefully, we don’t let the frustration set in, understanding that we are doing good things and will get results.
Jake McCabe on gelling with new partner Troy Stecher:
We play similar styles as far as moving the puck. Troy does a good job of moving his feet, too, which helps my game a lot. We have been supporting each other well and talking a lot.
It has been a natural fit for us, for sure. We have been playing some big minutes, and it’s been good. We’re feeling good.
We have some similarities as far as the college path. He has some Madison ties as well. We connect on that as well.
Nic Roy on the team’s confidence in Dennis Hildeby:
He’s playing unreal. Every game he plays, he gives us a chance to win. Unfortunately, it seems like we are always one goal short. I wish we could score more goals for him, but he has been huge for us.
Tavares on Scott Laughton heating up offensively:
Scott is a really good player. Unfortunately, he has had a couple of tough breaks with a couple of the injuries. I thought he had a really good summer and came into camp really ready to go. He showed that throughout camp.
Now, he seems to be getting his feet underneath him and is getting into a rhythm and flow. It was a heck of a goal the other night. It was great vibes with tying it up, but how he put it home was awesome, as well as seeing his reaction. It is great to see him playing well and contributing offensively.
Maple Leafs (13-11-4) vs. Lightning (16-10-2): Head-to-Head Stats
via NaturalStatTrick.com & AdvancedHockeyStats.com
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies – #34 Auston Matthews – #11 Max Domi
#53 Easton Cowan – #91 John Tavares – #88 William Nylander
#81 Dakota Joshua – #55 Nicolas Roy – #74 Bobby McMann
#18 Steven Lorentz – #24 Scott Laughton – #19 Calle Jarnkrok
Defensemen
#44 Morgan Rielly – #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
#22 Jake McCabe – #28 Troy Stecher
#2 Simon Benoit – #36 Dakota Mermis
Goaltenders
Starter: #35 Dennis Hildeby
#70 Artur Akhtyamov
Extras: Nick Robertson, Philippe Myers, Matias Maccelli
Injured: Joseph Woll (IR), Brandon Carlo (IR), Anthony Stolarz (IR), Chris Tanev (LTIR)
Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines
Forwards
#59 Jake Guentzel – #21 Brayden Point – #20 Nick Paul
#38 Brandon Hagel – #71 Anthony Cirelli – #86 Nikita Kucherov
#29 Pontus Holmberg – #37 Yanni Gourde – #28 Zemgus Girgensons
#93 Gage Gonclaves – #62 Jack Finley – #22 Oliver Bjorkstrand
Defensemen
#77 Victor Hedman – #24 Maxwell Crozier
#90 JJ Moser – #43 Darren Raddysh
#51 Charle-Edouard D’Astous – #78 Emil Lilleberg
Goaltenders
Starter: #31 Jonas Johansson
#33 Brandon Halverson
Injured/Out: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ryan McDonagh, Erik Cernak
