Toronto Maple Leafs: Game Day Headlines vs Senators

There’s much at stake for the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight as they head to Ottawa for a battle with the Senators.

One point. A single point is all the Leafs must earn tonight to officially punch their ticket to the 2019 playoffs and finally turn their sights towards an inevitable rematch with the Boston Bruins that looms on the horizon.

Standing in their way, however, are the lowly Ottawa Senators, who sit dead last in the NHL standings at the moment with a five-point cushion separating them from the next-closest team.

Pick a metric, and it’s entirely likely that the Senators land somewhere in the bottom-five. Ottawa has the fewest road wins, second-fewest home wins, fifth fewest ROW (regulation and overtime wins), and third-worst goal differential this season. They’re a bonafide mess, set to enter tonight’s meeting with the Maple Leafs with a 4-6-0 record over their last 10 games, most recently surrendering 5 goals to the lottery-bound Florida Panthers on Thursday.

The excuses are gone. With a playoff birth nearly within Toronto’s grasp, let’s take a look at some of the pre-game headlines.

Travis Dermott is Back

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. For Leafs fans, all it took was a month-long absence from Travis Dermott to force a true appreciation of what the 22-year-old defenceman brings to the table.

The Maple Leafs’ blueline has been in shambles since Dermott hit the shelf with a shoulder injury on February 27th. With a 55.3% CF%/60 at 5v5 and a sterling 5.8% Corsi rel%, Dermott’s presence was perhaps more meaningful than previously though, allowing his team to deploy three separate pairings that were each capable of driving possession.

In his absence, that duty fell to the Martin Marincin, Justin Holl, and Igor Ozhiganov rotation, each of whom failed to move the needle in their respective auditions.

Dermott is expected to line up on the right side tonight – a role he was deployed in for stretches last season during his time with the Marlies. Regardless of which side Dermott ultimately settles into, welcoming him back into fold not only elevates the Maple Leafs’ back end, but their entire roster, as well.

Garret Sparks (Do Do Do Do)

It finally happened.

With a playoff spot all but in their possession and a showdown with the NHL’s undisputed worst team on the docket, Mike Babcock has mercifully committed to resting Frederik Andersen tonight, going with the rarely-used Garret Sparks instead, per DailyFaceoff.

Opting to manage Andersen’s workload moving forward is a significant decision for two distinct reasons.

For one, it goes lengths to ensure that the most important component on the entire Maple Leafs’ roster does not enter the postseason in a state of fatigue. On the other hand, Sparks will be allowed to gain momentum of his own, which will prove vital in the event an emergency thrusts him into the starter’s role.

Andersen himself admitted to playing while “banged up” earlier this week. With a postseason of serious expectations waiting mere weeks away, risking his health against the 31st-place Senators simply will not offset the potential reward.

Puck drops at 7:00 PM.

All team stats courtesy of NHL.com