Back to Reality: Leafs Game Preview 18

After what feels like forever, the Leafs are back for another game day. The Leafs haven’t played since Sunday, due to adjusting back to North America, as they were in Sweden last week and weekend. Today they are back but this time with an early start at 2pm EST. The Leafs take on the Blackhawks and will look to shut down Connor Bedard who has found himself on a heater lately.

Leafs Projected Lineup

Three Things to Look Out For

Timmins

After starting the season on LTIR, due to an injury sustained in preseason, Timmins is preparing to play in today’s game. He hasn’t officially been declared as playing as of the time of writing this, but all signs look positive. Timmins had an impressive pre-season this year after a hard summer of training, and with that cut short due to injury, he will look to catch up on missed games and boost his game back up to the level he was playing at in pre-season. Timmins adds much-needed offense from the blueline, and with Klingberg out of the lineup, having another offensive defenseman come into the lineup, is sure to be a help to this Leafs team. Timmins will look to keep his game simple as he eases into the game today against the Blackhawks.

Samsonov

After a stretch of weak starts from Ilya Samsonov, he has started to put up some better numbers and has been a factor in the wins the Leafs have gotten. Samsonov is starting to look much more like himself and much more comfortable as well. He will look to build on the momentum he’s gained as he hopes to win more starts. Being on a one-year deal, I’m sure every start Samsonov gets is very important to him.

Knies

Matthew Knies has been moved throughout the lineup throughout the season and seems to potentially have found a spot where he belongs on the first line with Matthews and Marner. The production so far has been relatively slow but as the chemistry builds that should increase. Knies playing style should help this top line as he isn’t afraid to go into the corners and battle for the puck. Keep an eye on Knies tonight as he looks to play a responsible game while chipping in offensively.

Today’s game starts at 2 p.m. EST on TSN!

Thanks for reading! Feel free to follow me on Twitter @ITRnathanbondy.

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