Game Preview: Toronto Maple Leafs vs Nashville Predators

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Jan 9, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman

Dion Phaneuf

(3) shoots the puck against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Toronto Maple Leafs are in Smashville for a battle with the Predators tonight.

Toronto heads into the game without Captain Dion Phaneuf, who Paul Hendrick tweets is still not ready to return to the lineup.

Here are the projected line combinations for the game, also from Hendrick via mapleleafs.nhl.com:

Forwards

21 van Riemsdyk – 42 Bozak – 81 Kessel

26 Winnik – 43 Kadri – 19 Lupul

47 Komarov – 24 Holland – 71 Clarkson

20 Booth – 25 Santorelli – 18 Panik

More from Editor In Leaf

Defence

51 Gardiner – 4 Franson

44 Rielly – 46 Polak

55 Holzer –  Robidas

Jonathan Bernier is expected to be in the cage for the buds.

Toronto will be looking to move forward and grab their first win since January 9th.

Let’s look at the tale of the tape and the analytics report for the game.

Next: Tale of the Tape