Leafs @ Sabres - Mar. 25th, 7:00pm - CBC, Fan 590

[CarltonTheBear]

@

35-23-15, 85 points | 30-32-12, 72 points

Projected Lines

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander Komarov-Kadri-Brown JVR-Bozak-Marner Martin-Boyle-Leivo Gardiner-Zaitsev Rielly-Carrick Hunwick-Marchenko Andersen ​

Ennis-O'Reilly-Okposo Foligno-Eichel-Reinhart Kane-Rodrigues-Gionta Carrier-Girgensons-Moulson McCabe-Kulikov Deslauriers-Bogosian Gorges-Falk Lehner​

Scratches

Ben Smith Martin Marincin Roman Polak Eric Fehr Nikita Soshnikov ​

Hudson Fasching Rasmus Ristolainen Cody Franson ​

Game Notes

TOR
?Andersen (30-15-14, 2.64 GAA, .919 Sv%) will likely start for the Leafs
?William Nylander is on a 10-game point streak and has 25 points in his last 24 games
?Since ending his 7-game pointless streak, Auston Matthews has points in 4-straight (2 goals, 3 assists)
?Super rookie number three Mitch Marner has just a measly 6 points in his last 7 games

BUF
?Robin Lehner (20-23-8, 2.65 GAA, .921 Sv%) will likely start for the Sabres
?Buffalo has a number of players listed as "questionable", but it seems like a bunch of them will be able to play
?One player who definitely won't be playing is their top defenceman, Rasmus Ristolainen. He will serve the first game of a 3-game suspension for a hit on Pittsburgh forward Jake Guentzel
Injuries

?Nathan Horton - Back - Out indefinitely ?Joffrey Lupul - ?\_(?)_/? - Out indefinitely ?Stephane Robidas - Old - Out indefinitely ?Eric Fehr - Hand - Out indefinitely ?Nikita Soshnikov - Undisclosed - Questionable Saturday​

?Cody Franson - Face - Questionable Saturday ?Taylor Fedun - Foot - Questionable Saturday ?Justin Falk - Calf - Questionable Saturday ?Dmitry Kulikov - Upper Body - Questionable Saturday ?Kyle Okposo - Ribs - Questionable Saturday ?William Carrier - Knee - Questionable Saturday ?Johan Larsson - Wrist - Injured Reserve ?Cody McCormick - Blood clots - Injured Reserve​

Stream Options

https://www.reddit.com/r/NHLstreams
​

 

[Zee]

Win!!!

 

[crazyperfectdevil]

apparently Leivo is out and Smith is in.

 

[L K]

apparently Leivo is out and Smith is in.

That'll teach him to score.  Babcock's dislike of Leivo is very confusing.  Although this time it appears it is due to injury.

 

[Kin]

Cody Franson, out with a face.

 

[Coco-puffs]

apparently Leivo is out and Smith is in.

That'll teach him to score.  Babcock's dislike of Leivo is very confusing.

https://mobile.twitter.com/kristen_shilton/status/845665768389955585

LOL. Babcock recently stated the reason why Leivo hasn't been in the lineup is the lack of PK players.  It's not that he doesn't dislike him... it's the fact he has to be better than Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Kadri, JvR, and Bozak.  Or one of them have to be injured.  Komarov, Brown, Hyman, Boyle, and Sosh (plus Fehr) all PK.  Martin is in the lineup for protection (not that I agree with it). 

 

[disco]

https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/845673199916535809

That rough and tumble fourth line experiencing quite the casualty rate.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

That'll teach him to score.  Babcock's dislike of Leivo is very confusing. 

Although this time it appears it is due to injury.

It still says a lot that my first instinct was also that he was just making him a healthy scratch for *reasons*.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

LOL. Babcock recently stated the reason why Leivo hasn't been in the lineup is the lack of PK players.  It's not that he doesn't dislike him... it's the fact he has to be better than Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Kadri, JvR, and Bozak.  Or one of them have to be injured.  Komarov, Brown, Hyman, Boyle, and Sosh (plus Fehr) all PK.  Martin is in the lineup for protection (not that I agree with it).

If Komarov and Brown can pull double duty on the PK and PP then I don't see why Kadri can't.

 

[Coco-puffs]

LOL. Babcock recently stated the reason why Leivo hasn't been in the lineup is the lack of PK players.  It's not that he doesn't dislike him... it's the fact he has to be better than Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Kadri, JvR, and Bozak.  Or one of them have to be injured.  Komarov, Brown, Hyman, Boyle, and Sosh (plus Fehr) all PK.  Martin is in the lineup for protection (not that I agree with it).

If Komarov and Brown can pull double duty on the PK and PP then I don't see why Kadri can't.

I don't think Kadri would be an effective penalty killer.  Seems the coaching staff might agree.  In the GDT on Thursday I suggested Marner is probably the best suited, and sure enough he did see a shift on the PK where he spent most of it outside his own end.

 

[Frank E]

LOL. Babcock recently stated the reason why Leivo hasn't been in the lineup is the lack of PK players.  It's not that he doesn't dislike him... it's the fact he has to be better than Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Kadri, JvR, and Bozak.  Or one of them have to be injured.  Komarov, Brown, Hyman, Boyle, and Sosh (plus Fehr) all PK.  Martin is in the lineup for protection (not that I agree with it).

If Komarov and Brown can pull double duty on the PK and PP then I don't see why Kadri can't.

I don't think Kadri would be an effective penalty killer.  Seems the coaching staff might agree.  In the GDT on Thursday I suggested Marner is probably the best suited, and sure enough he did see a shift on the PK where he spent most of it outside his own end.

Yeah, not sure they want those hands being shot at.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

I don't think Kadri would be an effective penalty killer.  Seems the coaching staff might agree.  In the GDT on Thursday I suggested Marner is probably the best suited, and sure enough he did see a shift on the PK where he spent most of it outside his own end.

Yeah, I mean Marner (and Matthews) would almost certainly be pretty good penalty killers as well. That's just more reasoning that Babcock's excuse for keeping Leivo out of the line-up doesn't really make sense.

As for Kadri though, I'm not sure how you can have faith in someone to constantly match up against guys like Crosby/Giroux/Tavares/McDavid at even-strength every game and at the same time think he wouldn't make a good penalty killer.

 

[Kin]

I don't think Kadri would be an effective penalty killer.  Seems the coaching staff might agree.  In the GDT on Thursday I suggested Marner is probably the best suited, and sure enough he did see a shift on the PK where he spent most of it outside his own end.

Yeah, I mean Marner (and Matthews) would almost certainly be pretty good penalty killers as well. That's just more reasoning that Babcock's excuse for keeping Leivo out of the line-up doesn't really make sense.

As for Kadri though, I'm not sure how you can have faith in someone to constantly match up against guys like Crosby/Giroux/Tavares/McDavid at even-strength every game and at the same time think he wouldn't make a good penalty killer.

Especially when you're talking about the 5th or 6th penalty killers on a depth chart you're probably talking about guys who are playing the tail 20-30 seconds on a given 2 minute PK. To make that the priority over the 10 or so ES minutes a 4th liner will get seems nutty.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

I don't think Kadri would be an effective penalty killer.  Seems the coaching staff might agree.  In the GDT on Thursday I suggested Marner is probably the best suited, and sure enough he did see a shift on the PK where he spent most of it outside his own end.

Yeah, I mean Marner (and Matthews) would almost certainly be pretty good penalty killers as well. That's just more reasoning that Babcock's excuse for keeping Leivo out of the line-up doesn't really make sense.

As for Kadri though, I'm not sure how you can have faith in someone to constantly match up against guys like Crosby/Giroux/Tavares/McDavid at even-strength every game and at the same time think he wouldn't make a good penalty killer.

Maybe he wants to keep him better rested for play at even strength...?  Otherwise, I also don't get it.

 

[ZBBM]

My sense is that Marner could be more than a pretty good PKer. He's looked great the couple of times they put him out.

 

[Kin]

My sense is that Marner could be more than a pretty good PKer. He's looked great the couple of times they put him out.

I think one of the things we see in international tournaments is that a lot of star-level players who don't see usual PK time in the NHL actually are pretty good at it. The question seems to be more about resource allocation and how hard you want to work your star players.

 

[disco]

https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/845684784546353152
https://twitter.com/BrianWGR/status/845684429343412224

Cheap seats and just over the border. The Go Leafs Go chants will be strong tonight.

 

[cujo4ever]

Go Leafs Go!

 

[Highlander]

My sense is that Marner could be more than a pretty good PKer. He's looked great the couple of times they put him out.

Marner is not just a offensive Wizard but a defensive one as well. He steal pucks from people like a pickpocket in Rio.

 

[gunnar36]

apparently Leivo is out and Smith is in.

That'll teach him to score.  Babcock's dislike of Leivo is very confusing.  Although this time it appears it is due to injury.

His liking of Smith is equally as confusing.  Smith is below average in all facets of the game except maybe work ethic, which should not be enough to justify a spot in this lineup.