Islanders @ Leafs - Dec. 29th, 7:00pm - CBC, Fan 590

[CarltonTheBear]

@

19-13-4, 42 points | 26-10-2, 54 points

Projected Lines

Beauvillier-Barzal-Bailey Lee-Nelson-Ho Sang Kuhnhackl-Filppula-Komarov Johnston-Cizikas-Martin Leddy-Boychuk Pelech-Pulock Toews-Mayfield Lehner ​

Marleau-Matthews-Kapanen Johnsson-Tavares-Marner Brown-Kadri-Nylander Lindholm-Gauthier-Moore Rielly-Hainsey Gardiner-Zaitsev Dermott-Ozhiganov Andersen​

Scratches

Jordan Eberle Cal Clutterbuck Luca Sbisa ​

Martin Marincin Justin Holl​

Game Notes

NYI
?Lehner (6-6-3, 2.44 GAA, .919 Sv%) will likely start for the Islanders
?New York is also on the 2nd half of a back-to-back as they played in Ottawa on Friday and got a 6-3 over the sens
?The Islanders are having a better season than I'm sure most expected. They currently sit 2 points behind Boston and 3 points behind Montreal in the wild card races. They also have 2 games in hand on both teams
?Barzal and Bailey's P/GP rates have dropped from 1.04 and 1.02 last season to 0.89 and 0.83 this season. Lee is on pace for just 31 goals after scoring 40 last season. So some slight drop-offs post-Tavares but they're still producing at decent rates
?Our old buddy Leo Komarov is rocking a 42.5% CF rate this season. Among the 216 forwards to play at least 400 5-on-5 minutes this season, Komarov ranks 208th in that stat

TOR
?Andersen (20-9-1, 2.50 GAA, .923 Sv%) will likely start for the Leafs
?All eyes will of course be on John Tavares in this game, as he plays his former team for the very first time. Trotz has already made a bit of a statement as he said he wants his players to recognize that Tavares choose to not be their teammate anymore in the summer
?How is Tavares doing in his post-Islanders life you ask? Well he's on pace to score 56 goals and record 94 points, both of which would be career highs. He's tied for 2nd in the league in goals and has the highest 5-on-5 goals/60 rate. He's also recorded 2 points in each of his last 5 games. So, not bad.

Injuries

?Jordan Eberle - Undisclosed - Questionable Saturday ?Cal Clutterbuck - Ankle - Questionable Saturday ?Thomas Hickey - Upper Body - Injured Reserve ?Andrew Ladd - Leg - Injured Reserve​

?Tyler Ennis - Ankle - Injured Reserve ?Zach Hyman - Ankle - Injured Reserve                    ​

Stream Options

https://www.reddit.com/r/NHLstreams
​

 

[Zee]

Barry Trotz on his team getting ready for tomorrow night: ?They need to have some hurt.? Also said that he wants his guys to recognize that Tavares made the decision to be their teammate no longer in the summer. #Isles


Umm, Barry, didn't you have a contract option with the Capitals but you chose to leave?

 

[Bates]

Andersen out with groin injury, Sparks it is.

 

[Highlander]

What happened to Freddies groin??? Who will be the new McBackup?

 

[Bates]

What happened to Freddies groin??? Who will be the new McBackup?

Kaskisuo recalled and at  morning skate.

 

[Highlander]

Well they kept that quiet or he just injured himself in practice.

 

[herman]

That explains a few things.

So Double Sparks, or Kaskisuo gets a very weird NHL debut.

 

[herman]

Trevor Moore, who now wears Tyler Bozak's vacated number, went to the same school and hockey program as Tyler Bozak.

 

[LuncheonMeat]

Sparks  :'(

Something just for fun. After years of hearing how terrible the Leafs were at plus/minus, it's interesting to see them have 4 of the tops ten players in the league in +/-. Rielly and Hainsey leading the way at 1/2 overall.

I realize this is a crap stat, but just weird to see after so many years of the media hammering how bad they were.

Go Leafs!

 

[ZBBM]

Freddie's groin?

PANIC
PANIC
PANIC
PANIC
PANIC

I  AM  PANIC

 

[ZBBM]

I am seeing clone-merging possibilities here: a goalie who's also a  superfast skater with a dangerous shot:

Kasperimir Kaskikapenensuo.

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1079054365674024960

Oh, the places you?ll go, dear baby Kadri.

 

[Zee]

Oh my, Sparks having to play back to back isn't good, goalies are usually crap in the 2nd game. Hope Andersen's ok

 

[Zee]

Well they kept that quiet or he just injured himself in practice.

I mean Tampa had to survive without Vas, let's see if Leafs can survive without Freddie for any amount of time. Luckily we don't play again until next Thursday, so hopefully it's not serious enough to keep him out long.

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

Fishbulb to the rescue!  He hasn't played much, maybe he thrives under the additional work load.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

Fishbulb to the rescue!  He hasn't played much, maybe he thrives under the additional work load.

https://twitter.com/265Kilometres/status/1079036886956601346

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

Fishbulb to the rescue!  He hasn't played much, maybe he thrives under the additional work load.

https://twitter.com/265Kilometres/status/1079036886956601346

There's your answer Fishbulb.

 

[Zee]

Why is Sparks called Fishbulb?

 

[Highlander]

and not Sparky?  or Sparkplug or Sparktukus or Sparkman or Sparktank or Sparkamon?

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Why is Sparks called Fishbulb?

This will absolutely explain everything:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiAaEPcnlOg