The two teams have the same number of points in the standings, but these two points mean a hell of a lot more to the Sharks in the West than they do to the Maple Leafs in the East (10:00 p.m. EST, TSN4).
Game Day Quotes
Jake McCabe on Macklin Celebrini’s dominance of late:
I was able to watch half of the game last night on TV. He obviously took the game over. Those are huge points for them in this playoff race. It is a special year for a teenager to have. It’s been fun to watch. It’s a great test for us tonight.
It’s no different than the other top-tier players in the league: you have to be aware when they’re out there, especially the centermen building speed through the middle of the ice. He’s able to score. He’s able to pass. He drives the play for them. We need to be hard on him, take away his space, and make sure there is lots of [communication].
McCabe on the need to find some emotional investment in these final games:
Each guy really has to ramp it up here, especially after a couple of days off, with travel and whatnot. You’ve got to get the nervous system fired up and ready to go because it is going to be a big game for them, and we need to be ready to go from the hop.
Steven Lorentz on his season in San Jose back in 2023-23:
We weren’t the strongest team here. We were going through a bit of a rebuild. What was nice about coming to the rink every day was the closeness of the group. We knew we weren’t a winning team every night. Just being able to keep things light in the room when losing a lot of guys brought everybody closer together. Fans are still paying money to come see the games.
Easton Cowan on Macklin Celebrini’s amazing achievements at the age of 19:
A great player doing unreal things.
It was great to play with him at the World Juniors. You learn a lot from him. He is so strong on the puck. He doesn’t lose many battles. You see how many battles he wins, and it creates chances for him. He plays good defense, and it leads to offense.
He’s a great guy as well. It’ll be cool to battle against him tonight.
Craig Berube on the decision to start Anthony Stolarz for the second consecutive game:
He has a really good record [in San Jose]. That is a big part of it. There wasn’t a ton of reason why. We just decided to go with Stolie again tonight.
Berube on whether playing spoiler to opponents in the thick of a playoff race serves as motivation for the team:
I don’t really talk about the spoiler role. I expect our team to play a certain way. I expect that out of every player. We talked about bringing emotion.
The emotion in the last game was already there — we know that — but today, it is not there. It’s different. For me, it is about every individual bringing the emotion. The other team has emotion and will play with it because they’re in a situation where they have to. For me, a big part of it is bringing the emotion and being invested in it.
Berube on the defensive challenge presented by Celebrini:
He has a lot of tools — skate, shoot, score, pass. He has all the tools, but for me, a kid of that age and what he is doing is right up here: He’s smart. He’s a very intelligent player. When I watch him go to the Olympics to play with a guy like McDavid, MacKinnon, and so on, and the coach keeps using him with those guys, and they want to play with him… You must have intelligence.
Everyone has to know when he is out there and understand that one guy won’t contain him. You’ve got to do it as a group — a five-man unit — out there. As much as we can, we have to make him play in his own zone.
Maple Leafs (32-30-13) vs. Sharks (35-31-7): Head-to-Head Stats
via NaturalStatTrick.com & AdvancedHockeyStats.com
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#53 Easton Cowan – #91 John Tavares – #88 William Nylander
#23 Matthew Knies – #29 Bo Groulx – #63 Matias Maccelli
#81 Dakota Joshua – #11 Max Domi – #89 Nick Robertson
#18 Steven Lorentz – #26 Jacob Quillan – #19 Calle Jarnkrok
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe – #25 Brandon Carlo
#44 Morgan Rielly – #51 Philippe Myers
#2 Simon Benoit – #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Goaltenders
Starter: #41 Anthony Stolarz
#60 Joseph Woll
Extras: Steven Lorentz, Troy Stecher
Injured: Auston Matthews (out for the season), Chris Tanev (LTIR)
San Jose Sharks Projected Lines
Forwards
#92 Igor Chernyshov – #71 Macklin Celebrini – #2 Will Smith
#72 William Eklund – #21 Alex Wennberg – #44 Kiefer Sherwood
#51 Collin Graf – #77 Michael Misa – #73 Tyler Toffoli
#23 Barclay Goodrow – #63 Zack Ostapchuk – #81 Adam Gaudette
Defensemen
#9 Dmitry Orlov – #5 Vincent Desharnais
#85 Shakir Mukhamadullin – #38 Mario Ferraro
#6 Sam Dickinson – #4 Nick Leddy
Goaltenders
Starter: #33 Alex Nedeljkovic
#30 Yaroslav Askarov
Injured: Ryan Reaves, John Klingberg
