Game Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs vs Carolina Hurricanes | 12/30/2023

The Leafs played last night and are coming off of another 6-5 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets. The discussion has largely been centered around goaltender Ilya Samsonov, and for good reason, but the Leafs did make some careless mistakes as well. The Leafs won’t have much time to review things, though, as they play against the Hurricanes tonight. Tonight marks the return of Michael Bunting to Toronto after leaving the Leafs in free agency. Note that the official lines have yet to be released, so I included the lines from last night’s games, as the changes will likely be minimal.

Leafs Projected Lineup

Three Things to Look Out For

Matthews

Auston Matthews has been on a tear this season so far and already has 29 goals on the season. With tonight’s game, Matthews has the chance to hit 30 goals scored before the new year. Matthews has contributed both offensively and defensively this season and will look to do the same once again tonight.

Jones

While no one likes to see a goaltender struggle like Samsonov has this season, it’s opened up opportunities for Jones to win playing time. Jones has looked decent so far in his time with Toronto. Jones will look to keep the Leafs in tonight’s game and help give them confidence. Keep an eye on Jones tonight as he looks to provide some certainty among the uncertainty in between the Leafs pipes.

Holmberg

As previously mentioned, the Leafs made some mistakes yesterday defensively that led to goals and Sheldon Keefe is getting less tolerant with those mistakes. As such, he’s elected to replace David Kämpf in tonight’s lineup with Pontus Holmberg. Holmberg played a solid chunk of games with the Leafs last season and looked good in those games. After starting this season with the Marlies, he earned a call-up and is now drawing into tonight’s lineup. Look for Holmberg to come strong out of the game for tonight’s game as he looks to earn another game with the Leafs.

Tonight’s game starts at 7 p.m. EST on Sportsnet and CBC!

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

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