The Toronto Maple Leafs are back in action tonight as they continue their West Coast swing with a matchup against the Colorado Avalanche. Toronto is coming off a frustrating loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, where the team blew a 3-0 lead before eventually losing in a shootout. The Maple Leafs will be looking to bounce back tonight, but they will have to do it with a few changes to their forward group.
Maple Leafs projected lineup
Kirill Marchenko -- Auston Matthews -- Jack Roslovic
Easton Cowan -- Nick Paul -- William Nylander
Gavin McKenna -- Colton Sissons -- Bo GroulxZack MacEwen -- Teddy Blueger -- Brandon Duhaime
Jake McCabe -- Darren Raddysh
Morgan Rielly -- Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson -- Troy Stecher
Anthony Stolarz
Sergei Bobrovsky
Scratched: Nick Blankenburg, Miles Wood, John Tavares
Injured: Dakota Joshua (core), Max Domi (undisclosed)
Avalanche projected lineup
Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Martin Necas
Gabriel Landeskog -- Brock Nelson -- Nazem Kadri
Jaden Schwartz -- Fedor Svechkov -- T.J. Hughes
Parker Kelly -- Nicolas Roy -- Zachary L’Heureux
Devon Toews -- Cale Makar
Brett Kulak -- Sam Malinski
Josh Manson -- Brent Burns
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Scratched: Noah Juulsen, Logan O'Connor
Injured: None
Maple Leafs' lineup changes
The biggest change comes down the middle, as John Tavares will be away from the team while he and his wife welcome their fourth child, Tucker Tavares. With Tavares out of the lineup, Nick Paul moves up to the second-line centre spot alongside William Nylander and Easton Cowan. It gives Paul a bigger opportunity tonight, while Nylander and Cowan will have a different player down the middle to work with.
That move also creates another opening further down the lineup. Bo Groulx moves up to the third-line right wing spot, while Colton Sissons shifts to centre alongside Gavin McKenna. Toronto will need those lines to find some chemistry, especially with Tavares unavailable and the team looking to get back in the win column after Thursday's disappointing result.
There is also a lineup change that should make some fans in Leafs Nation happy. Zack MacEwen draws back into the lineup for the first time since the season opener, giving Toronto another option up front. MacEwen brings a physical element to the lineup, and it will be interesting to see what kind of role he gets tonight as the Maple Leafs try to respond to their loss in Vegas.
Outside of the forward group, there is one change on the blue line. Morgan Rielly and Dareen Raddysh have been split up, with each of them getting paired with one of Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev. Which may be a better partner for everyone. Another thing is note that Oliver Ekman-Larsson is back after leaving Thursday night's game with an injury.
As for the goaltending, Anthony Stolarz gets the start against the Avalanche. It will be his third start of the season, with Sergei Bobrovsky serving as the backup.
The Maple Leafs have a chance to put Thursday's loss behind them, but they will need a better effort over a full 60 minutes. Although it doesn't seem overly important, collecting points early in the season can go a long way later in the season. Toronto needs to take advantage of that and start stringing wins together.
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