After getting roughed up Cal Clutterbuck and Adam Pelech of the New York Islanders, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be without Auston Matthews tonight against the Boston Bruins.
In the late third period, Matthews was sandwiched by Clutterbuck and Pelech. After the hit, Matthews looked dinged up and skated right to the bench for evaluation. Matthews was favoring his shoulder and was quickly taken to the locker room.
Even if Matthews misses a few games, Leafs Nation shouldn’t fret. The Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t in jeopardy of losing a playoff spot. The Maple Leafs are currently in third place in the Eastern Conference and have 16 point lead over eighth place, the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Toronto Maple Leafs Lines
As you can imagine there are several line changes with Matthews out of the lineup. Kristen Shilton of TSN tweeted out the lines from practice yesterday and they will likely be the lines that Mike Babcock rolls out with tonight against Boston.
#Leafs lines at practice (with Auston Matthews absent):
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) February 23, 2018
Hyman-Nylander-Brown
Marleau-Kadri-Marner
van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Kapanen
Komarov-Moore-Leivo
Martin
Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Dermott-Polak
Carrick
The most significant change is William Nylander will be the centre on the top line for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Nylander is a strong play-maker and has 32 assists in 63 games this season. Nylander’s wingers will likely be Zach Hyman and Connor Brown.
Aside from the top line, the third and fourth line will have some changes as well. Kasperi Kapanen will move up to third line and play on the right side of Tyler Bozak and James van Riemsdyk. Since being recalled, Kapanen has been playing well on the fourth line. Unfortunately for Kapanen, he hasn’t been able to put up too many points. So, hopefully playing alongside Bozak and JVR will increase his point totals.
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The fourth line has a change as well. Finally, Josh Leivo gets some playing time. He hasn’t played since New Years Eve when the Maple Leafs took on the Vegas Golden Knights. Leivo will play right wing alongside Leo Komarov and Dominic Moore.
Boston Bruins
The Maple Leafs will be facing a tough Boston Bruins squad at the Air Canada Centre. The Bruins have a two game winning streak. Earlier this week, they beat both Alberta squads and out-scored them 5-3.
The Bruins offense has been outstanding. They are one of the most high scoring teams in the NHL with a 3.24 GF/GP. Brad Marchand, Danton Heinen, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak have all been phenomenal for the Bruins in the offensive zone.
The Bruins have also been actively making trades as of late. The other day, they made a trade with the New York Rangers and added defenseman, Nick Holden. Cam Neely, the president of the Boston Bruins also shipped Frank Vatrano to the Florida Panthers for a third round draft pick.
Per a report from New England Sports Network (NESN), Bruce Cassidy, the head coach of the Bruins hasn’t made up his mind if Holden will be making his Bruins debut against the Leafs.
Next: Best Leafs Trades of the Last 5-10 Years
Prediction & Notes
Without Matthews in the lineup for Toronto, it will be a tough game for the Toronto Maple Leafs. I predict that Toronto will grab their fourth consecutive win and beat the Bruins 3-2.
The game will be televised on Rogers Sportsnet in Canada and NESN in New England. Puck drop will be at approximately 7:05 pm EST.