Leafs face off against the Penguins tonight as they look to continue their strong November. The Penguins have won five games in a row, with their last loss being against the Leafs. The Leafs will look to put the Penguins back in the loss category as Marner extends his point streak to 16 games, Källgren looks to recover from a tough end against the Islanders, and the team continues to battle through their injuries.
Leafs Projected Lineup
Forwards
Bunting – Matthews – Nylander
Järnkrok – Tavares – Marner
Kerfoot- Holmberg – Malgin
Aston-Reese – Kämpf – Engvall
Defense
Giordano – Holl
Sandin – Liljegren
Mete – Hollowell
Goalies
Källgren
Murray
Penguins Projected Lineup
Forwards
Guentzel – Crosby – Rakell
Zucker – Malkin – Rust
McGinn – Carter – Heinen
Poehling – Blueger – Archibald
Defense
Pettersson – Letang
Joseph – Petry
Dumoulin – Rutta
Goalies
DeSmith
Jarry
Three Things to Look Out For
Malgin
Malgin found himself a healthy scratch the past two games and is drawing back into the lineup with Simmonds being scratched. Malgin will look to play a consistent game tonight and help contribute to the Leafs’ success in hopes of staying in the lineup. With Holmberg getting an extended look as the third-line center, one roster slot has been fought for between Malgin, Robertson, and Simmonds. Malgin is back in tonight, hoping to prove why he thinks the roster slot should belong to him.
Holl
We have heard quite a bit about the Leafs’ injuries on defense so far, and many have acknowledged the increased role Giordano has had to play, especially doing that well at his age. Well, I think it’s time we give Holl some credit. While Holl has had some shaky moments this season, he has been relied on for over 22 minutes in each of the Leafs’ last four games. He hasn’t been on the ice during this time for a single 5-on-5 goal. Holl will look to extend that stat with tonight’s game.
Järnkrok
Well, I said in the last pregame writeup that I think Järnkrok is a good stylistic fit with Marner and Tavares, and after one game, he passed the eye test. It looks like he will be back on the same line again tonight, so we will get an extended look to see if the fit indeed does work. Look for this second line to be hard-working, capitalizing on the other teams’ mistakes.
You can watch today’s game live at 7:00 pm EST on Sportsnet or CBC!
Thanks for reading! Feel free to follow me on Twitter @nathan_bondy.
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