A loss — in extra time or regulation — for the Maple Leafs tonight, or one point for the Seattle Kraken tonight or tomorrow, and Toronto will slot in fifth-last ahead of the May 5th draft lottery (7:30 p.m. EST, Sportsnet).
TSN1050 will broadcast Joe Bowen’s final call of his broadcasting career tonight. Be sure to follow us on X for game highlight clips featuring Joe’s calls.
Game Day Quotes
Steven Lorentz on Joe Bowen’s career:
Just listening to him call games is a treat and a pleasure, really. The way he brings it to life — you didn’t have to be in front of a TV to understand what was going on in the game. He called it with so much passion and emotion that it made it that much more electric, even if you’re just sitting in the car listening to him.
He’s the best guy. He’s full of energy and life. You can hear that passion when he is calling games. He’s a big part of this organization and is going to be missed going forward.
Luke Haymes on playing an NHL game in his hometown of Ottawa:
Super excited for the hometown game. My whole family will be there, and I’ve probably got around 10 friends. My brothers have a bunch of people coming, so probably 20 or 30, I would guess.
I grew up watching a lot of Sens-Leafs games. It’ll be super fun to play in one. It was always a huge rivalry. The crowd gets into it, and there are lots of fans for both teams. It’ll be super fun.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson on Haymes and the rest of the Marlies call-ps:
He is a good skater who works really hard and is pretty smart out there.
I’ve liked all of the [callups’] games. It takes time. It is easy to do it for a couple of games, but when you have to do it over and over again, it’s [the real test].
I’ve liked their games. It’s fun to see them get a chance here to get a feel for it.
Craig Berube on the message to the team ahead of the final game of the season:
Play the right way. Compete, and play hard. Respect the game and respect each other. That’s it. Go play the game properly.
Berube on the decision to start Dennis Hildeby:
It’s good to get him in for a game. We used Woll a lot down the stretch here. It’s good to get Hildeby in there before he goes back to the Marlies. He has played 19 games for us this year and has done a good job. We thought it would be good to get him back up for one more.
Travis Green on drawing the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs:
Tough one. They’re a good team. Been a good team for a long time. A lot of playoff experience.
We talk a lot about knowing our game here and understanding our game. They’re a good example of knowing how they play and how they get to their game. It’s an aggressive game they play.
It’s two teams that have a lot of similarities in their game. It’s going to be a good series.
Green on the benefits of last year’s playoff experience vs. the Leafs:
It’s better than not having it. Experience doesn’t automatically mean you win or lose a series. They’re going to have a lot more experience than us. But just playing last year is definitely going to help us.
I thought we were a little nervous at the start of the series last year. We worked our way into it and played a lot better in the last four and a half games.
But it is a new year. That is behind us. We’re looking forward to this year.
Maple Leafs (32-35-14) vs. Senators (43-27-11): Head-to-Head Stats
via NaturalStatTrick.com & AdvancedHockeyStats.com
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines*
*with an optional morning skate, final line combinations won’t be confirmed until line rushes in warmups
Forwards
#53 Easton Cowan – #91 John Tavares – #88 William Nylander
#23 Matthew Knies – #11 Max Domi – #89 Nick Robertson
#63 Matias Maccelli – #43 Luke Haymes – #18 Steven Lorentz
#61 Michael Pezzetta – #26 Jacob Quillan – #77 Ryan Tverberg
Defensemen
#44 Morgan Rielly – #28 Troy Stecher
#2 Simon Benoit – #22 Jake McCabe
#95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson – #76 William Villeneuve
Goaltenders
Starter: #35 Dennis Hildeby
#60 Joseph Woll
Extras: Philippe Myers
Injured: Calle Jarnkrok, Dakota Joshua, Anthony Stolarz, Brandon Carlo, Auston Matthews, Chris Tanev
Ottawa Senators Projected Lines
Forwards
#28 Claude Giroux – #83 Stephen Halliday – #19 Drake Batherson
#23 Kurtis MacDermid – #24 Dylan Cozens – #71 Ridly Greig
#21 Nick Cousins – #12 Shane Pinto – #42 Hayden Hodgson
#37 Warren Foegele – #89 Lars Eller – #20 Fabian Zetterlund
Defensemen
#10 Jordan Spence – #2 Artem Zub
#6 Dennis Gilbert – #33 Nikolas Matinpalo
#60 Lassi Thomson – #5 Cameron Crotty
Goaltenders
Starter: #47 James Reimer
#35 Linus Ullmark
Injured/Out/Resting: Michael Amadio, Tyler Kleven, Nick Jensen, Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot
