The Toronto Maple Leafs are once again out of a playoff spot.
After losing to the Florida Panthers 5-3 on Monday (which they were up 3-1 BTW), the Toronto Maple Leafs look for redemption against the New York Rangers. They look to do so, however, without their starting goaltender.
It was announced yesterday after practice that goaltender Frederik Andersen has suffered what they’re calling a neck injury, and is currently day-to-day. Keefe announced that Hutchinson will be the starter for tonight’s game, and recalled Kasimir Kaskisuo from the Toronto Marlies (AHL) to back him up, should the need arise.
Shesterkin gets the start for the Rangers, so that means tonight’s net minders should give us either a goalie battle for the ages, or we’re about to see a high scoring affair on the ice.
Toronto Maple Leafs Scratches
In other news, Timashov slots in for Gauthier, which, after Monday’s game, is a welcome change.
I mean, a more welcome change would be taking Ceci out for literally ANY other defensemen, but this will have to do I guess. The Panthers don’t play tonight, so this will be the perfect opportunity to once again leapfrog them and take third in the Atlantic Division back.
Auston Matthews will look to gain even more ground tonight as the race for the Rocket Richard trophy continues to heat up after last night saw Alex Ovechkin with another hat trick.
Matthews sits at 37 goals on the year, which is one behind Pastrnak’s 38 and 3 behind Ovechkin’s 40. With tonight being questionable in terms of net minders, I would expect a plentiful of goals to be scored tonight.
Although Matthews recent run of 21 goals in 23 games is, in and of itself, extremely impressive, it pails in comparison to Ovechkin’s recent run of 14 goals in his last seven games. The incredible run has seen Ovechkin score three hat-tricks as well as a pair of games where he scored twice.
Tonight’s game needs to be a bounce back for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On a night where no team around them in the standings plays, securing the two points will be critical in maintaining their push for the postseason.
Hutchinson seems to have a decent record in his last few starts, but if Andersen is out long term, I don’t think Hutch is the guy to be starting for the Toronto Maple Leafs. But, I could be wrong.
We’ll find out tonight.
Puck drop is at 7:30 EST.