The Toronto Maple Leafs (28-11-7) will face off against historic rivals the Montreal Canadiens (19-24-3) tonight at the Bell Canada Centre, in Montreal.
The last time these two teams met was the season opener on October 12th, a game in which the Toronto Maple Leafs lost 4-3.
Since then, both teams have had distinctly different seasons. The Leafs have 63 points in 45 games, good enough for 2nd place in the Atlantic, and 3rd place overall in the league.
Meanwhile the Montreal Canadiens have managed to squeak out only 41 points in 45 games, and currently sit in last place in the Atlantic, and 7th to last place overall in the league. (Hockeydb)
Toronto Maple Leafs vs Montreal Canadiens: Injuries Will Be A Factor
The injury riddled Canadiens are 4-6-0 over their last ten games, and with important players like Brendan Gallagher, Braden Guhle, Sean Monahan, and first overall pick from last years entry draft, Juraj Slafkovsky out with ailments of various degrees, the team will be looking at getting players like Evgeni Dadanov, Mike Hoffman, and Arber Xhekaj going again.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are relatively healthy by comparison, though defensemen Jake Muzzin, who has missed most of the year with a cervical neck injury, TJ Brodie (rib), and Timothy Liljegren (head) are all nursing injuries of various degree of seriousness.
TJ Brodie has been missing in action with a rib injury since last playing January 7th. He has recently resumed skating, and may be back for tonight’s game against the Canadiens.
Brodie, one of, if not the most reliable defenseman on the Leafs, has missed six games, with the team having a record of 4-2-0 during this time frame.
A scary incident during the third period of Thursday night’s game between the Leafs and Winnipeg saw Timothy Liljegren get struck in the head by a puck.
After laying on the ice for several minutes, Liljegren was able to stand up and leave the ice shortly after. He did not return to action, and his status at time of writing is unknown. As Liljegren is perhaps the Leafs best defender, I hope he is not out long.
If neither Brodie or Liljegren play tonight, fans will likely see Justin Holl back up on the first pair with Morgan Rielly, and the ageless Mark Giordano will likely be paired with Rasmus Sandin, while Jordie Benn and Conor Timmins will get their opportunity together on the bottom pair.
With the fate of both teams seasons pretty much already determined at this point, the game doesn’t hold a whole lot of importance in the grand scheme of things, other than bragging rights.
While the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadians have a historic rivalry that was re-kindled in the all-Canadian Division in 2020-2021, that rivalry has been put on hold for now as Montreal has sank to the bottom of the league since, and will not be contending for a playoff spot this year.
Expect the Montreal Canadiens to come out with a heavy forecheck, playing the body hard, and looking to limit the high powered offense of the Toronto Maple Leafs star forwards.
Expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to come out fast, setting up in the offensive zone, looking to make cross seam passes and take high danger shots, while drawing Montreal into taking bad penalties against.
Game time is 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, and can be seen on Sportsnet.
Go Leafs Go.