Dallas Stars @ Toronto Maple Leafs: Game #60
7:00 p.m. ET at Scotiabank Arena
TV/Streaming: TSN 4
Opponent’s SB Nation Site: Defending Big D
Tonight, Nick Robertson returns to the lineup (he was swapped with Carl Dahlström on the off day for salary reasons) to play against his big brother, Jason Robertson and his Dallas Stars. I say that this team is Jason’s sincerely, as he’s the team’s leading goalscorer, and his center Joe Pavelski is the team’s leading point-getter and recently signed to an extension. Drafted in the second round, Robertson was second in Calder Trophy voting behind Kirill Kaprizov last year. Hopefully the younger Nick can follow in his footsteps.
Tonight is also the first night without Auston Matthews, who’s serving the first game of his two game suspension. The second game will be against Carolina on Thursday.
Related
Auston Matthews suspended two games for cross-checking Rasmus Dahlin
John Tavares is taking his place on the first line, with Alex Kerfoot moving up to play centre between Robertson and William Nylander. Quick aside on Nylander, there was a troll making rumours that Nylander was getting traded for a goalie. The quotes were completely fabricated, give them no oxygen.
On defense, the Leafs have swapped Timothy Liljegren with Ilya Lyubushkin on the top pair with Morgan Rielly. Liljegren played the least of all the defenders in the outdoor game, only 10 minutes, so it seems that experiment is over. Might he get back next to Rielly someday, maybe. But for now, it’s going to be Boosh.
In net, Erik Källgren makes his first career NHL start after stopping 11 of 12 in a loss to Arizona last week. Let’s see what the 25-year-old SHL Champion can do.
Back to the Stars, Miro Heiskanen is out with mono, while Anton Khudobin has surgery the other day, meaning Braden Holtby (who is also injured at the moment) is not going to be traded at the deadline.
John Klingberg will be another player to watch. The pending UFA would look really good in the Leafs top four.
Leafs Lineup
Forwards
Michael Bunting - John Tavares - Mitch Marner
Nick Robertson - Alex Kerfoot - William Nylander
Ilya Mikheyev - David Kämpf - Pierre Engvall
Kyle Clifford - Jason Spezza - Ondřej Kaše
OUT: Auston Matthews (suspended, 1/2), Wayne Simmonds (scratched)
Defense*
Morgan Rielly - Ilya Lyubushkin
TJ Brodie - Justin Holl
Rasmus Sandin - Timothy Liljegren
OUT: Jake Muzzin (concussion), Travis Dermott (scratched)
Goalies
Erik Källgren - confirmed starter
Petr Mrázek
OUT: Jack Campbell (ribs)
Stars Lineup
Forwards
Jason Robertson - Roope Hintz - Joe Pavelski
Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov
Michael Raffl - Radek Faksa - Denis Gurianov
Marian Studenic - Luke Glendening - Joel Kiviranta
OUT: Jacob Peterson (scratched)
Defense*
Ryan Suter - Jani Hakanpaa
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Thomas Harley - Joel Hanley
OUT: Miro Heiskanen (mononucleosis), Andrej Sekera (upper body)
Goalies
Jake Oettinger - confirmed starter
Adam Scheel
OUT: Braden Holtby (lower body)
