Can the Maple Leafs snap a six-game losing streak by picking up their first win in Vancouver since December 2019 against the 32nd-place Canucks, or is there a new low to be discovered tonight on HNIC? (7:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet/CBC)
Game Day Quotes
Craig Berube on the return of William Nylander:
The ability he has makes us a more dangerous team. He brings leadership and a lot of skill to our game. He touches a lot of areas.
Berube on Marshall Rifai’s season debut:
He is pretty jacked up about it. It was an unfortunate incident in camp for him, and a long road for him to get back. But he has worked his way back, and I’m looking forward to watching him tonight.
Berube on his message to his team to be less “cute”:
There are times in a game when there is no play to be made. You have to put pucks in good areas. That is what I mean by “too cute.” We can be a little simpler and more direct in our game a lot of the time. It costs us sometimes. It’s going in the back of our net right now.
Berube on the keys to keeping the players in a good mindset amid a brutal losing streak:
It is a feel thing. You’re getting a read off your players, where they’re at, and how they’re feeling. It is about communication with them, for sure. That is how you go about it.
There are times when they may not be that upset about the loss or where we’re at. There are other times when they are taking it hard. It is just a feel thing, and reading the players.
Berube on healthy scratching Easton Cowan:
He just needs a little reset here. To me, he has lost a little bit of his swagger. That is a big part of his game. I am not seeing it right now. He may be worried about making mistakes, and little things like that are probably affecting him and getting in the way of his being successful right now.
Berube on how the longest-tenured Leaf and Vancouver native, Morgan Rielly, is dealing with the team’s recent struggles:
He takes it personally. He has a lot of character. He loves the Leafs and loves being a Leaf. It weighs on him quite a bit.
Canucks head coach Adam Foote on his team’s keys to building off a 2-0 win over Anaheim in tonight’s HNIC matchup against the Leafs:
In the last four weeks, in the most high-danger offensive chances, according to one group, we are in the top two in the league. That happens when we recognize, off the rush, when we’re doubled up, get it deep, go to work, and not lose pucks at the blue line.
We still want to focus on that. Toronto is a hungry team. They’re well-coached. They are going to play desperate hockey. We know we are going to get their best. We have to build on what we did.
Maple Leafs (24-21-9) vs. Canucks (18-31-5): 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 Nic Roy – #89 Nick Robertson
#18 Steven Lorentz – #24 Scott Laughton – #19 Calle Jarnkrok
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe – #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
#44 Morgan Rielly – #25 Brandon Carlo
#83 Marshall Rifai – #28 Troy Stecher
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joseph Woll
#41 Anthony Stolarz
Extras: Simon Benoit, Easton Cowan, Philippe Myers
Injured: Chris Tanev (LTIR), Dakota Joshua (LTIR)
Vancouver Canucks Projected Lines
Forwards
#91 Evander Kane – #40 Elias Pettersson – #8 Conor Garland
#72 Filip Chytil – #64 David Kampf – #94 Linus Karlsson
#18 Drew O’Connor – #54 Aatu Raty – #74 Jake DeBrusk
#92 Liam Ohgren – #63 Max Sasson – #23 Jonathan Lekkerimaki
Defensemen
#25 Elias Nils Pettersson – #17 Filip Hronek
#29 Marcus Pettersson – #5 Tom Willander
#7 Pierre-Olivier Joseph – #57 Tyler Myers
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Nikita Tolopilo
#32 Kevin Lankinen
Injured/Out: Thatcher Demko, Brock Boeser, Marco Rossi, Nils Hoglander, Derek Forbort
