Tonight the Leafs face off against the New Jersey Devils while dressing the same lineup and lines as last game. Tonight we will get a chance to see if these lines can work against one of the best teams in the league. The Devils have won 10 games straight, so in order to have a chance against the red-hot Devils, they will need to play a full 60 minutes tonight.
Leafs Projected Lineup
Forwards
Bunting – Matthews – Nylander
Kerfoot – Tavares – Marner
Engvall – Holmberg – Järnkrok
Aston-Reese – Kämpf – Malgin
Defense
Rielly – Benn
Giordano – Holl
Sandin – Liljegren
Goalies
Murray
Källgren
Devils Projected Lineup
Forwards
Tatar – Hischier – Zetterlund
Haula – Hughes – Mercer
Sharangovich – Boqvist – Bratt
Wood – McLeod – Bastian
Defense
Siegenthaler – Hamilton
Graves – Marino
Smith – Severson
Goalies
Vanecek
Schmid
Three Things to Look Out For
Kerfoot
While Kerfoot found himself on the second line, he received a fair bit of criticism after the last game. It almost seems as if Kerfoot has the skill, but then either he lacks confidence or ends up making poor decisions under pressure. This was shown last game specifically when he ended up with a prime scoring chance, only to pass it away to the opposing team, and a play in the last minute of the game where he essentially shot on his own net. Either way, Kerfoot hasn’t fully played as well as last season, so be on the look for him to have an improved game tonight.
Sandin
Like Kerfoot, Sandin hasn’t had the start to the season he would have hoped. He has criticized his play, especially a turnover that led straight to a goal. Many people have written off Sandin already, but I wouldn’t be so quick to write off Sandin after a weak start to the season. I look at Nylander, who had a very slow start after signing his contract back in 2018 but has since picked it up quite a bit and played well. While Sandin didn’t miss games this season due to his contract status, he did miss some of the training camp. Regardless, we have had a small sample size of Sandin this year, even though he exceeded expectations last year. Let’s be patient with him and see how he develops over the year, starting with a fresh new game tonight.
Tavares
Tuesday night, Tavares recorded his 400th career NHL goal against the Penguins. It’s interesting to note that Tavares’ first NHL goal was also against the Penguins. Tavares has arguably been the best Leaf so far this season through 17 games, with nine goals and 18 points in 17 games. Assuming he is healthy for the full season, that puts him on pace for 43 goals, the best since his first season as a Leaf. Look out for him tonight as he looks to continue playing elite hockey.
You can watch tonight’s game live at 7:00 pm EST on Sportsnet!
Thanks for reading! Feel free to follow me on Twitter @nathan_bondy.
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