ARIZONA COYOTES 28-23-7 at TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS 29-19-8
MAPLE LEAFS GAME 57 | CHANNEL: TSN 4 | GAME TIME: 7 p.m. EST
Even with a few players not feeling well there’s still an opportunity for the Toronto Maple Leafs to capitalize on tonight. The Florida Panthers, the team with the biggest chance to knock the Leafs out of the playoff picture, have stumbled their way through February. After a loss last night at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers, they are 1-4-1 in February, with their lone win coming against the Maple Leafs. That was a game that saw the Leafs go up 3-1 early in the 3rd period, only to surrender 4 unanswered goals, and drop the game 5-3.
It was also the game that saw an injury to Frederik Andersen, leaving Michael Hutchinson to man the nets, and eventually force Kyle Dubas into (finally) trading for an upgrade at the backup position. Jack Campbell, tonights starting goaltender, has looked good in his first two starts for his new team.
Sheldon Keefe said that Jack Campbell will start vs. Coyotes. Andersen not quite there yet.
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) February 11, 2020
Sheldon Keefe on what he likes about Jack Campbell: “The confidence that he has in himself and the confidence that he brings to our team. He’s excited for every opportunity that comes about, and it doesn’t matter how it comes about. He’s ready for it.”
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) February 11, 2020
The Leafs needs points badly right now if they want to separate themselves from the pack, and taking it to a Coyotes team that has also had middling results in February (2-2-1) is imperative. This is where the Leafs’ killer instinct needs to shine through.
The flu bug couldn’t have hit the Maple Leafs locker room at a more inconvenient time:
Keefe said Tavares and Holl are both game-time decisions, but feeling much better than yesterday
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) February 11, 2020
While it’s questionable if we’ll see John Tavares or Justin Holl, it’s expected that William Nylander will make his return to the lineup after being sidelined for 2 games due to an illness:
After missing the last two games due to illness, William Nylander back on the ice at Leafs practice
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) February 10, 2020
No matter who is in or out, the main thing is this team needs to put the pedal to the floor and not let up, even in the 3rd.
Maple Leafs Projected Line Up
11 Zach Hyman – 34 Auston Matthews – 16 Mitchell Marner
15 Alexander Kerfoot – 91 John Tavares – 88 William Nylander
18 Andreas Johnsson – 47 Pierre Engvall – 24 Kasperi Kapanen
73 Kyle Clifford – 33 Frederik Gauthier – 19 Jason Spezza
23 Travis Dermott – 94 Tyson Barrie
8 Jake Muzzin – 3 Justin Holl
38 Rasmus Sandin – 37 Timothy Liljegren
36 Jack Campbell
Michael Hutchinson
Scratches: Dmytro Timashov, Martin Marincin
Injuries: Ilya Mikheyev – wrist, Morgan Rielly – foot, Cody Ceci – ankle, Frederik Andersen – neck
Coyotes Projected Line Up
91 Taylor Hall – 18 Christian Dvorak – 83 Conor Garland
67 Lawson Crouse – 21 Derek Stepan – 81 Phil Kessel
9 Clayton Keller – 8 Nick Schmaltz – 13 Vinnie Hinostroza
34 Carl Soderberg – 15 Brad Richardson – 36 Christian Fischer
23 Oliver Ekman-Larsson – 46 Ilya Lyubushkin
6 Jakob Chychrun – 33 Alex Goligoski
82 Jordan Oesterle – 4 Niklas Hjalmarsson
31 Adin Hill
32 Antti Raanta
Scratched: Michael Grabner, Aaron Ness
Injured: Jason Demers – oblique, Darcy Kuemper – lower body
A message from Offside Hockey Talks James on Tonight’s Game:
Victory on #leafsnation mind tonight. As the @MapleLeafs take on the @ArizonaCoyotes, some say nothing good ever happens on a Tuesday I’d say a Leafs victory wouod be a great Tuesday myself.@LeafsHub @FPC_NHL @PuckinLeafs @OT_Heroics @JoshTessler_ @TicTacTOmar @Jermz13 pic.twitter.com/Vxdt2HuyVZ
— OFFSIDE HOCKEY TALK (@OFFSIDETALK) February 11, 2020