Leafs @ Golden Knights - Feb. 14th, 10:00pm - SNO, TSN 1050

[CarltonTheBear]

@

35-18-3, 73 points | 31-23-4, 66 points

Projected Lines

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

Marchessault-Karlsson-Smith Pacioretty-Stastny-Tuch Lindberg-Eakin-Zykov Carrier-Bellemare-Reaves McNabb-Schmidt Theodore-Engelland Merrill-Miller Fleury​

Scratches

Igor Ozhiganov Justin Holl Tyler Ennis ​

Brandon Pirri Tomas Nosek Jake Bischoff ​

Game Notes

TOR
?Andersen (26-11-2, 2.56 GAA, .923 Sv%) will likely start for the Leafs
?Babcock mixed up the defence pairings in the 2nd half of the Avalanche game and kept them like that in practice yesterday. So expect Hainsey to be back on the top pairing while Muzzin pairs with Zaitsev
?The Leafs finally broke out of their PP slump on Tuesday, but will face a tougher task tonight as they go up against the 6th best PK in the league
?Kapanen was practicing on the 2nd PP unit on Wednesday. He of course scored a PP goal against the Avs and it appears he might be getting some more consistent time there

VGK
?Fleury (29-17-4, 2.54 GAA, .909 Sv%) will likely start for the Golden Knights
?As recently as a month ago Vegas was a top-5 team in the league. However, a 3-7 record in their last 10 games has likely dropped them out of contention for a top-2 spot in the Pacific
?Alex Tuch, somewhat surprisingly, leads the team in scoring this season with 40 points in 50 games. He is however pointless in his last 6 games
?William Karlsson still hasn't found his scoring touch from last season. He's on pace for 24 goals and 50 points, a far cry from the 43 goals and 78 points he had in Vegas' inaugural season
?Fleury is perhaps showing the biggest drop-off from last season's performance. His .927 Sv% has dropped to just .909. He still leads all goalies in wins though so let's congratulate him on eventually winning the Vezina

Injuries

​

?Ryan Carpenter - Upper Body - Injured Reserve ?Erik Haula - Knee - Injured Reserve ?Nick Holden - Lower Body - Injured Reserve ?Tomas Nosek - Flu - Questionable Thursday ?Brandon Pirri - Flu - Questionable Thursday​

Stream Options

https://www.reddit.com/r/NHLstreams
​

 

[disco]

Go Leafs Go.

Sun and warm air I think is going to energize the guys on this road trip. Toronto can be tough, we haven't seen that yellow orb in the sky much since October. I'm a shriveling plant.

 

[ZBBM]

It's really nothing short of amazing that this franchise continues to do as well as it has.  I get that they had a better hand dealt to them than expansion teams of the past, but still.  Gotta credit McPhee and his team.

 

[herman]

Dubas will be attending the Ducks/Canucks game tonight.

Tanev, Stetcher
Manson, Montour

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Dubas will be attending the Ducks/Canucks game tonight.

Tanev, Stetcher
Manson, Montour

I'm assuming you mean last nights game? And he probably went because he was bored.

 

[dappleganger]

Dubas will be attending the Ducks/Canucks game tonight.

Tanev, Stetcher
Manson, Montour

I'm assuming you mean last nights game? And he probably went because he was bored.

No, they're actually having a private exhibition tonight just for the Leafs brass.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

No, they're actually having a private exhibition tonight just for the Leafs brass.

It'd be pretty difficult to get a read on a player when he's involved in a meaningless (and probably unpaid) exhibition game, but still that's the kind of outside-the-box thinking that got Dubas to where he is today so who am I to question it.

 

[herman]

Dubas will be attending the Ducks/Canucks game tonight.

Tanev, Stetcher
Manson, Montour

I'm assuming you mean last nights game? And he probably went because he was bored.

Oh hey, good job reading that tweet time and verifying the schedule, herman. It's not even Friday yet.

 

[Highlander]

Dubas will be attending the Ducks/Canucks game tonight.

Tanev, Stetcher
Manson, Montour

I'm assuming you mean last nights game? And he probably went because he was bored.

Oh hey, good job reading that tweet time and verifying the schedule, herman. It's not even Friday yet.

It is in New Zealand

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/1096171749425565696

:

https://twitter.com/theoakleafs/status/1096119470815432704

 

[LuncheonMeat]

No, they're actually having a private exhibition tonight just for the Leafs brass.

It'd be pretty difficult to get a read on a player when he's involved in a meaningless (and probably unpaid) exhibition game, but still that's the kind of outside-the-box thinking that got Dubas to where he is today so who am I to question it.

If this is true, plan on the Oilers scouting the All-Star game next year.

 

[Bill_Berg]

Dubas will be attending the Ducks/Canucks game tonight.

Tanev, Stetcher
Manson, Montour

I'm assuming you mean last nights game? And he probably went because he was bored.

That's like going to a paint drying contest cause you're bored.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/1096171749425565696

:

I was going to complain that this ridiculous double-standard isn't held to someone like Marleau or Hainsey but I mean this probably is the top of their games.

 

[herman]

Yeah I roll my eyes a bit at this carrot dangling in front of someone who is really performing well already, but there?s little harm in making the younger player you?ve pinned some very long term hopes on to build up the drive to bust through even more emphatically.

Some do better with a challenge rather than effusive praise. I take it as a really good sign that Babcock is expecting even more from Nylander because he believes he has that much more to give.

https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2019/02/14/mike-babcock-on-the-jake-muzzin-addition-we-are-way-deeper-through-six-so-you-are-not-as-paranoid-about-who-is-on-the-ice-when-they-are-out-there/

Babcock?s answer about Nylander earlier was about building up his confidence and giving him time and space to build up his game shape with less pressure.

 

[cujo4ever]

GO LEAFS GO!

Wish this were a Friday night game so I could stay up and watch it.

 

[LeafsDownUnder]

Coming up on 2pm in Sydney so I'm ready for this one...

 

[ZBBM]

Coming up on 2pm in Sydney so I'm ready for this one...

Isn't it tomorrow already in Oz?  Don't tell us who won!

 

[LeafsDownUnder]

Coming up on 2pm in Sydney so I'm ready for this one...

Isn't it tomorrow already in Oz?  Don't tell us who won!

Friday on my Mind...

 

[ZBBM]

Real nice job with the anthems there.

 

[herman]

I see Vegas does that annoying thing where they take particular pride about a word in the anthem matching something in their name or arena.