Champs Back for More + Marner Wins Award + Maple Leafs Look to Extend Streak
The Toronto Maple Leafs have arrived home and are looking to extend their seven game winning streak Tuesday night.
After winning all four games on their most recent road trip, the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to have rematch against the Vegas Golden Knights five days after taking down the defending Stanley Cup champions 7-3.
The line-up looks to be mostly unchanged as reported by Mark Masters on Monday afternoon. Mark Giordano has rejoined the team after losing his father, while Timothy Liljegren was not skating during the clubs practice yesterday.
Masters reported that Keefe stated Liljegren was banged up during the contest against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night, and will not play. Mark Giordano will return to the line-up.
Champs Back for More + Marner Wins Award + Maple Leafs Streak
The biggest news from Monday's practice was that Joseph Woll had rejoined the club after a conditioning stint with the Toronto Marlies. Woll had been out since early December with an ankle injury and made a start with the farm team on Friday night where he stopped 36 of 37 shots against the Laval Rockets to help lead the Marlies to a victory.
It isn't clear who the starter is at the time of writing, but my expectation would be that Ilya Samsonov will get the nod against the Golden Knights tonight and Woll will get his return against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night.
While Samsonov has not been perfect and has had a bit of trouble controlling rebounds he has put together a 9-1-0 stretch with a 2.19 GAA and .915 save percentage. Some are saying that the Maple Leafs need to acquire a goalie at the trade deadline, however if Woll can prove to be healthy their current tandem could allow the team to go heavier on a top pairing defenseman.
Mitch Marner became the fourth Toronto Maple Leafs player this season to be named one of the three stars of a week. The shifty winger accumulated a goal and nine assists during the four game road trip last week and now has 72-points in 56 games this season which puts him on pace for his first 100-point season of his career.
Auston Matthews had previously been named one of the three stars of the week on three different occasions this year, as well as named a player of the month in December. William Nylander was twice named a player of the week in November, while Martin Jones received the honour in January.
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Tonight's game is at 7PM EST and can be seen on TSN.