The Maple Leafs kick off the post-Christmas stretch with a big four-point game against the Ottawa Senators (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet).
Game Day Quotes
Scott Laughton on the importance of the first stretch of games out of the break:
We have a big stretch coming up here against our division. It is important to get off on the right foot. We played better against Dallas and Pittsburgh. We are starting to find a little traction. It is nice winning before the break; the guys are feeling good today, and you get a little bit of time away to reset, regroup, and come back stronger.
It is going to be a huge test for us this week. It starts tonight, and we go from there.
Senators head coach Travis Green on the tightly-packed Atlantic Division:
There is a lot of parity in the game. It is not surprising, in a way. If you look at all the teams, it feels like every night when you look at the lineup, the teams are deep. It is a close division.
Green on the Senators’ ability to stay afloat despite Brady Tkachuk’s long-term injury earlier this season:
We have dealt with injuries in the past. We don’t put a lot of stock into when a guy goes out. We don’t talk about it a lot. We have a close group that believes in themselves.
Everyone knows how important certain players are. You lose Brady, you lose Chabot for a while, and Pinto is out. Part of it is depth within your team, having belief in guys who are going to play more minutes, and believing in your team game.
Craig Berube on the addition of Steve Sullivan to the coaching staff:
It is great to have Sully here. We all know Sully from coming in and working with the Marlies this year. He is a long-time NHL player, a good player, and an offensive guy, so we brought him in here to help with the power play.
Just a new voice and some different setups going forward right now. We don’t need to complicate anything right now. We need to get some feel back on the power play and get some chemistry going on the units we have.
Laughton on the addition of Sullivan to the coaching staff:
Sully seems like a great guy. I got to know him a bit in camp and had some conversations with him. I think it is a great addition. He is a really smart guy who has been around the game, played a ton, and has played in this market. It is exciting for us and some of the guys.
Berube on the importance of the divisional matchups coming out of the break:
It is a huge weekend, starting with Ottawa. We definitely have to get wins and do our best to get points, for sure, inside the division. They’re big games, 100%, coming out of the gate, with back-to-back games against teams we are trying to catch.
Maple Leafs (16-15-5) vs. Senators (18-13-5): Head-to-Head Stats
via NaturalStatTrick.com & AdvancedHockeyStats.com
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#74 Bobby McMann – #34 Auston Matthews – #11 Max Domi
#63 Matias Maccelli – #91 John Tavares – #88 William Nylander
#23 Matthew Knies – #55 Nicolas Roy – #89 Nick Robertson
#81 Dakota Joshua – #24 Scott Laughton – #18 Steven Lorentz
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe – #8 Chris Tanev
#95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson – #28 Troy Stecher
#44 Morgan Rielly – #51 Philippe Myers
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joseph Woll
#35 Dennis Hildeby
Extras: Simon Benoit, Easton Cowan, Calle Jarnkrok, Henry Thrun
Injured/Out: Brandon Carlo (IR), Anthony Stolarz (IR)
Ottawa Senators Projected Lines
Forwards
#7 Brady Tkachuk – #18 Tim Stutzle – #20 Fabian Zetterlund
#57 David Perron – #24 Dylan Cozens – #19 Drake Batherson
#22 Michael Amadio – #71 Ridly Greig – #28 Claude Giroux
#13 Xavier Bourgault – #83 Stephen Halliday – #21 Nick Cousins
Defensemen
#85 Jake Sanderson – #2 Artem Zub
#72 Thomas Chabot – #10 Jordan Spence
#33 Nikolas Mattinpalo – #3 Nick Jensen
Goaltenders
Starter: #35 Linus Ullmark
#1 Leevi Merilainen
Injured/Out: Tyler Kleven, Lars Eller
