The Torontio Maple Leafs were without their best player (Auston Matthews) and their best goalie (Anthony Stolraz) last night against Detroit, but it turned out not to matter.
The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without both the same two guys tonight, and they'll be swapping Matt Murray out for Joseph Woll, but they'll be looking for the same result when they take on the Washington Capitals tonight in Toronto.
The Leafs dusted the Red Wings 5-2 last night (it was 5-0 after two before the Leafs went into energy conservation mode).
The Capitals are a much better team, but if Marner plays like he did last night, that probably won't matter too much.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Look to Keep in Going Against the Beast of the East
Bizarrely, the Capitals are the Eastern Conference's top team - at least by points percentage. They trail Sheldon Keefe's New Jersey Devils by three points, but the Capitals have played three less games.
The Leafs, after last night's victory, are sitting third in the East by points percentage, and have the exact same record as the Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers. Both teams are two points behind the Capitals and five points behind the Devils.
As mentioned, Matt Murray will get the call for the Leafs tonight, while Logan Thompson will get the start for Washington.
The Caps last played on Monday, and a 4-1 loss to the Bruins. The Leafs and Capitals have played once already this year, with the Leafs winning 3-1 on December 6th.
The big news ahead of this game is that Alex Ovechkin is returning to the lineup for the first time since November 18th when he had two goals against Utah.
As for the Leafs big star, all we know is that Matthews is unlikely to play in their next game, which is against the Islanders on New Years Eve, and how much longer after that no one knows or is saying. In fact, we don't even know what the injury is or if he'll return at all. Personally, I don't think he should. The Leafs should just shut him down until he's fully recovered, as they aren't winning anything without him.
The Leafs may have a nice record without Matthews in the lineup, but it's just an illusion, as no team icing Tavares-Holmberg-Domi-Kampf down the middle is going to succeed for long. That said, hopefully they've got another win in them tonight and get beyond the .500 hockey they've been playing for most of this month.