Toronto Maple Leafs Host the Columbus Blue Jackets

The Toronto Maple Leafs will host the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight in the fourth game of their six-game homestand.

The Toronto Maple Leafs won their last game in a shootout, defeating the Vancouver Canucks 3-2. Similarly, the Blue Jackets enter tonight also having won their last game in the shootout. On the second-half of a back-to-back, they beat the Florida Panthers 3-2.

Both teams enter tonight with a similar record. Toronto has 52 points and Columbus has 51. However, the Leafs will look to get back on track after a sub par start to their homestand (despite back-to-back shootout wins). They’ve struggled to stay out of the penalty box and have allowed over 30 shots against eight times in their last ten games.

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The last meeting between the two teams was a 4-2 Blue Jackets win on December 20th. The Leafs allowed the first two goals and struggled for the rest of the game to get back in it. Hopefully they can learn from their mistakes of that game and come out stronger out of the gate, though admittedly the Leafs have struggled to do so throughout this season.

Lineup Changes

Last game marked Travis Dermott’s NHL debut, which was an overall success. Dermott started the game on the third pair with Roman Polak, and it appears he will get a bigger opportunity tonight against Columbus.

That means Connor Carrick will sit out tonight and Andreas Borgman will return to the blue-line. He’ll slot into his regular spot on Polak’s left side. Aside from that, there don’t appear to be any other changes to the lineup for tonight:

https://twitter.com/kristen_shilton/status/950389689189515270

Frederik Andersen will likely get the start for Toronto. He boasts a .944 save percentage in the new year, and there is no reason to believe he can’t continue that tonight.

As for the Blue Jackets, it should be backup Joonas Korpisalo in goal for them tonight. Since joining Columbus in 2015, he has a 4-1 record when starting against Toronto, including the win against the Leafs in December. If Korpisalo starts, the Leafs will have their work cut out for them. However, we won’t find out who John Tortorella will name as their starting goaltender until later this afternoon, since Columbus didn’t hold a morning skate.

Game Notes

• Auston Matthews has nineteen goals this season, including four goals in the last four games. Look for him to continue his hot play and get his twentieth goal tonight.
• Watch to see how Travis Dermott plays with Jake Gardiner. If the last game was any indication, we could have a new second pair, which would make things very interesting when Nikita Zaitsev comes back from injury.
• Artemi Panarin leads Columbus in scoring with 35 points in 43 games, but the Blue Jackets have struggled to score this season.
• The Jackets have an abysmal powerplay, ranked 30th at 12.6%. Only the Edmonton Oilers are worse.

Next: Travis Dermott Debut Review

Puck drop is at 7pm EST on TSN4 and SN590.