Leafs @ Panthers - Nov. 22nd, 7:00pm - SNO, TSN 1050

[CarltonTheBear]

@

14-8-0, 28 points | 7-11-2, 16 points

Projected Lines

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander Marleau-Kadri-Komarov JVR-Bozak-Marner Martin-Moore-Brown Rielly-Hainsey Gardiner-Zaitsev Borgman-Carrick Andersen ​

Huberdeau-Barkov-Dadonov Brickley-Trochek-Bjugstad McGinn-McCann-Sceviour Hunt-Balisy-Haley Yandle-Ekblad Matheson-Pysyk McCoshen-Weegar Luongo​

Scratches

Nikita Soshnikov Roman Polak Josh Leivo ​

Radim Vrbata Henrik Haapala Alex Petrovic ​

Game Notes

TOR
?Andersen (12-7-0, 2.83 GAA, .914 Sv%) will likely start for the Leafs
?The Leafs are coming off a tough loss on Monday in which they either dominated the Coyotes or got dominated by them, depending on who you ask. They'll look for a bounce-back performance against another team at the bottom of the standings

FLA
?Luongo (4-4-1, 2.78 GAA, .925 Sv%) will likely start for the Panthers
?With Dave Tallon back in charge the Panthers valiantly spent the past offseason correcting the mistakes of the old Computer Boys? regime. After getting rid of dead weight like Marchessault, Jagr, Smith, Jokinen, and Demers (i.e. 5 of their top 8 scorers from 16/17) the rejuvenated Panthers find themselves... wait... that can't be right... they're FOURTH LAST in the entire league?? But Tallon FIXED everything?!
?Florida has the 2nd highest GA/GP rate in the league, as well as the 2nd worse PK%. Eventually re-acquiring Erik Gudbranson (which is actually rumoured to possibly happen) will fix those issues I'm sure
?One offseason move by the Panthers that has worked out well was bringing Evgeny Dadanov back from the KHL. The 28-year old forward has 17 points in 20 games this season. He's also rocking a very impressive 57.17 CF%, but talk like that might get him benched. He has slowed down a bit recently though with only 3 points in his last 9 games
?Trochek, Huberdeau, and Barkov are all playing incredibly well too, all three have 21 points in 20 games this season... if only they had some other forwards who could score hmmmmm
Injuries

?Nathan Horton - Back - Out indefinitely ?Joffrey Lupul - Actually Injured - Out indefinitely​

?Radim Vrbata - Face - Day to day ?Derek MacKenzie - Lower Body - Injured Reserve​

Stream Options

https://www.reddit.com/r/NHLstreams
​

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I may have overdone it on the notes section today but I've been looking forward to this one ever since this Tallon quote from last week:

https://twitter.com/CAMayrand/status/931594176168374272

"Thank god I'm back" said the GM of the 4th worst team in the league!

 

[herman]

Hit me with your top 5 or 10 worst GMs, from Worst to Not the Worst
Use whatever metric/timespan or feelings you want to.

All da GMs Right Now:

Anaheim Ducks	Bob Murray
Arizona Coyotes	John Chayka
Boston Bruins	Don Sweeney
Buffalo Sabres	Jack Eichel
Calgary Flames	Brad Treliving
Carolina Hurricanes	Ron Francis
Chicago Blackhawks	Stan Bowman
Colorado Avalanche	Joe Sakic
Columbus Blue Jackets	Jarmo Kekalainen
Dallas Stars	Jim Nill
Detroit Red Wings	Ken Holland
Edmonton Oilers	Peter Chiarelli
Florida Panthers	Dale Tallon
Los Angeles Kings	Rob Blake
Minnesota Wild	Chuck Fletcher
Montreal Canadiens	Marc Bergevin
Nashville Predators	David Poile
New Jersey Devils	Ray Shero
New York Islanders	Garth Snow
New York Rangers	Jeff Gorton
Ottawa Senators	Pierre Dorion
Philadelphia Flyers	Ron Hextall
Pittsburgh Penguins	Jim Rutherford
San Jose Sharks	Doug Wilson
St. Louis Blues	Doug Armstrong
Tampa Bay Lightning	Steve Yzerman
Toronto Maple Leafs	Lou Lamoriello
Vancouver Canucks	Jim Benning
Vegas Golden Knights	George McPhee
Washington Capitals	Brian MacLellan
Winnipeg Jets	Kevin Cheveldayoff

My list:
McPhee
Chiarelli
Bergevin
Tallon
Holland
Sweeney
Benning

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Buffalo Sabres

Jack Eichel

 

[ZBBM]

Buffalo Sabres

Jack Eichel

It's a good thing you're paying attention.  Whenever I see a list nowadays my pupils become fixated.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/kevin_mcgran/status/933378250851549184

No morning skate so we don't know how that'll effect the lines.

 

[rdowdall]

https://twitter.com/kevin_mcgran/status/933378250851549184

No morning skate so we don't know how that'll effect the lines.

I hope Nylander is moving to centre and Marleau is staying on the wing.

 

[disco]

itsgamedayeahhhhhboyeeeeethanksctb

 

[cujo4ever]

Go Leafs Go!

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/AndrewBerkshire/status/933432158584270849

My list:
Bergevin
McPhee
Chiarelli
Bergevin
Tallon
Holland
Sweeney
Benning

 

[Kin]

Seems more likely that the arbitration was more a symptom than a cause there.

And I have to think Sakic deserves a spot, good return for Duchene notwithstanding.

 

[herman]

Seems more likely that the arbitration was more a symptom than a cause there.

Judging by the rest of the conversation, yes.
https://theathletic.com/163217/2017/11/22/p-k-subban-opens-up-slightly-on-the-reasons-behind-his-departure-from-montreal/

And I have to think Sakic deserves a spot, good return for Duchene notwithstanding.

I only have 7 listed so far, so yeah, there's room. Benning is slowly working himself off the list. He's got a tough hand to play and it is, for some reason, working so far (making the Canucks a sellable product).

 

[herman]

Barkov's line plays heavy, heavy minutes, and with home ice advantage, Babcock will have to be flexible in chasing the matchup. I see Marleau/Kadri down the middle as the options.

My stab at a lineup:
JvR - Matthews - Nylander
Komarov - Kadri - Soshnikov
Hyman - Marleau - Brown
Martin - Bozak - Marner

Bozak's 4th line can wreck Florida's minimal depth.
Barkov plays like 23 min a night, so it'll have to be defense by committee between Kadri and Marleau's lines. We'll likely see Kadri and Marleau hot swapped for the matchup and letting the centres borrow wingers as required.
A super scoring Matthews line would force Boughner's hand in matching their shutdown group against him, freeing up some room for the other lines to do their damage.

 

[Frank E]

Barkov's line plays heavy, heavy minutes, and with home ice advantage, Babcock will have to be flexible in chasing the matchup. I see Marleau/Kadri down the middle as the options.

My stab at a lineup:
JvR - Matthews - Nylander
Komarov - Kadri - Soshnikov
Hyman - Marleau - Brown
Martin - Bozak - Marner

Bozak's 4th line can wreck Florida's minimal depth.
Barkov plays like 23 min a night, so it'll have to be defense by committee between Kadri and Marleau's lines. We'll likely see Kadri and Marleau hot swapped for the matchup and letting the centres borrow wingers as required.
A super scoring Matthews line would force Boughner's hand in matching their shutdown group against him, freeing up some room for the other lines to do their damage.

Not sure they'd throw Sosh the kind of minutes Kadri is going to get tonight.

 

[Deebo]

Mark Masters‏Verified account
@markhmasters
3m3 minutes ago
More
Leafs lines in warm-up:

Martin-Matthews-Marner
Komarov-Kadri-Soshnikov
Hyman-Marleau-Brown
JvR-Bozak-Nylander

Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Borgman-Carrick

Andersen starts

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Someone in that forward group sticks out like a sore thumb.

 

[Al14]

Interesting lineup!

How long does it take Babcock to change the lines back to normal? Well, except for Sosh being in the lineup.

 

[dappleganger]

Couldn't have had Leivo on the first line there...

 

[herman]

Off by a Bozak/Matthews swap. Let?s see how they do.

 

[Al14]

WTF?  Bilingual Anthem in Florida for a team from Toronto.  The Scabs aren't playing, it's the Leafs!