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Projected Lines
Forwards
Toronto Colorado
Johnsson - Matthews - Nylander Burakovsky-MacKinnon- Donskoi
Mikheyev - Tavares - Hyman Nichushkin - Kadri - Compher
Kerfoot - Spezza - Kapanen Nieto- Bellemare - TBD
Engvall - Shore - Gauthier O?Connor - Kamenev - Tynan
Defence
Rielly- Ceci Girard - Johnson
Muzzin - Holl Graves - Makar
Dermott - Barrie Zadorov- Cole
Goaltenders
Frederik Andersen Philip Grubauer
Kasimir Kaskisuo Pavel Francouz
Scratches
Petan
Marincin
Injuries
Marner RW - ankle Rantanen RW -leg
Trevor Moore LW -shoulder
Landeskog C - lower body
Colin Wilson C - lower body
Tyson Jost C - upper body
Matt Calvert RW - head
News & Notes
Maple Leafs
- Frederik Anderson to start in goal for the Leafs tonight. In 18 games started, Andersen has a .915 SV% and a 2.66 GAA plus a 10-5-0 w/l record.
- After losing six straight games and having fired coach Mike Babcock, the Leafs finally broke out of their slump with a 3-1 win Thursday night in Arizona against the Coyotes
- It was a game of ?firsts? ? new coach Sheldon Keefe?s first win in his debut behind the bench; much-beleagured defenceman Tyson Barrie scoring his first goal in a Leaf Jersey (a huge sigh of relief for the Leafs defenceman who seemed not to thrive under Babcock but played to his strengths and skill set under Keefe. It was also a big load off his shoulders coming into tonight?s game against his former team the Colorado Avalanche, where he spent his entire career before being traded to the Leafs); Pierre Engvall scored his first goal in his NHL debut with the blue & white being called up from the Marlies. The gangly left winger certainly impressed.
- Auston Matthews leads all Leafs forwards with 15 goals & 28 points
- Morgan Rielly leads all Leafs defencement with 3 goals & 14 assists (17points)
- The Leafs top five are ? C Matthews, RW Nylander, RW Marner, D Rielly, C Tavares
LW Mikheyev is tied with Nylander in assists (14)
- Coach Sheldon Keefe announced that C Nick Shore would replace Nic Petan on the team?s fourth line. Shore is a protege of Keefe?s Marlies and deserves a chance to play. He?s also a native of Denver and will be playing before a ?home? crowd. Keefe coached the 2018 Toronto Marlies to a Calder Cup win and had been instilled as coach since 2015. He is familiar with many of the players now on the Leafs roster. Sounds all good.
Colorado Avalanche
- Philip Grubauer will start in goal for the Avalanche tonight. In 13 games started, Grubauer has a .916 SV% and a 2.76 GAA plus a 7-4-0 w/l record.
- Colorado has just finished up a five-game road swing going 3 and 2 during that span. The Avalanche have accomplished some pretty amazing things this season without at least four, (now five if you count Matt Calvert?s puck-in-the-head injury), regulars out of their lineup ? Miko Rantanen, Gabriel Landeskog, Colin Wilson, and Tyson Jost. Colorado has managed to find depth players as temporary replacements until the injured return, which may not be too far off, as Rantanen & Josi were seen participating in the team?s morning skate.
- The Avs moto this season is ?Next Man Up?, a motivating slogan that has served the team quite well considering all that they?ve gone through.
- What is even more amazing is that at one given time, the Avalanche had seven regulars out of the lineup ? including starting goaltender Grubauer and his backup Francouz. On their five-game road swing, they used four goaltenders in the rotation ?callups Antoine Bibeau & Adam Werner, then Francouz (he was temporarily injured but ready for the next assignment), and of course Grubauer who returned for the last road game a 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild.
- Nathan MacKinnon leads the team in goals (13) and points (32)
- Defenceman Cale Makar has been on a tear this month. The brilliant offensive defenceman leads all NHL rookies with 25 points in 22 games. The more he plays, the better and better he gets. The pride of Alberta is a definite shoo-in at this point for rookie of the year honours. That of course has yet to be determined, but with the way Makar is playing, he and McKinnon are leading the team at this stage in the season.
- Tonight?s game will not only feature ex-Avalanche now Maple Leaf Tyson Barrie facing his former team, but also the Avs C Nazem Kadri and ex Maple Leaf, Kadri came to Colorado via the Barrie trade and has settled in his role as the team?s second-line centre. Kadri has 7 goals and 8 assists for 15 points.
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-The Leafs are fourth in the Atlantic division while the Avalanche are second in their Central division.
- Colorado sports the third best GA at 5v5 in the league. They make it difficult for teams to score at even strength.
- The Leafs/Avs tilt should make for an exciting speedy game as both teams will play to the max in the offensive department while minding the defence. It?ll be interesting to see how the Leafs contain Colorado?s speedy forwards in Burakovsky, MacKinnon, and Makar. It?ll be equally interesting to see how the Avalanche contain the Leafs duo of Matthews & Nylander, not to mention a plethora of the rest of the Leafs forward lines. Oh yeah, Kadri vs Barrie & Kerfoot....
