Leafs vs. Sharks preview: Must lose and must win

One team is fighting for the playoffs and the other is officially out of them. The Marlies coach is suggesting the Leafs call up Colton Orr because he's a guy who tries hard, and well, he's not going play for the Marlies much. The Leafs didn't do that, but it makes sense tank wise.

San Jose Sharks at Toronto Maple Leafs

Air Canada Centre 7:30PM

TV: CSN-CA, TSN4

Radio: TSN1050

SBN: Battle of California, Fear the Fin

Leafs Notes:

Tim Erixon likely replacing T.J. Brennan tonight for the Leafs. He'll play with Andrew MacWilliam.

— Jonas Siegel (@jonasTSN1050) March 19, 2015

Jonathan Bernier in goal tonight for the Leafs.

— Jonas Siegel (@jonasTSN1050) March 19, 2015

Looks like Leafs will play Leo Komarov at centre tonight. Paired with Lupul and Kozun this morning.

— Jonas Siegel (@jonasTSN1050) March 19, 2015

One thing I keep hearing from young Leaf defencemen: positive, unsolicited praise for Steve Staios.

— Jonas Siegel (@jonasTSN1050) March 19, 2015

ICYMI: The Leafs are on pace to become one of the worst first period teams in the past decade. http://t.co/kHAfTPgE9S

— Jonas Siegel (@jonasTSN1050) March 19, 2015

Looks like Tim Eruxon is back in tonight. #TMLtalk

— Paul Hendrick (@HennyTweets) March 19, 2015

Sam Carrick will be the likely replacement for Nazem Kadri. Marlie call ups have played 95 games for the Leafs this season. #TMLtalk

— Paul Hendrick (@HennyTweets) March 18, 2015

Sharks Notes:

#SJSharks Vlasic excited about side trip to Quebec City to see his junior hockey jersey retired by Remparts. http://t.co/bMDwm6bxEz

— David Pollak (@PollakOnSharks) March 19, 2015

McLellan mixing #SJSharks lines looking to improve offense and defense tonight in critical game vs. struggling TOR. http://t.co/KexhCK9z3Y

— David Pollak (@PollakOnSharks) March 19, 2015

Thornton-Wilson story seems to have run its course. #SJSharks center fielded no questions on it from smaller than usual TOR media scrum.

— David Pollak (@PollakOnSharks) March 19, 2015

#SJSharks showing new look on lines this a.m.: 12-50-48 along with 8-19-68 on top lines, 83-39-57 and 20 or 71-21-89 in teal jerseys.

— David Pollak (@PollakOnSharks) March 19, 2015

Joe Thornton wants to retire a Shark

NHL.com Line Ups
Toronto

Richard Panik - Tyler Bozak - Phil Kessel
James van Riemsdyk - Trevor Smith - David Booth
Brandon Kozun - Leo Komarov - Joffrey Lupul
Joakim Lindstrom - Sam Carrick - Zach Sill

Eric Brewer - Morgan Rielly
Jake Gardiner - Dion Phaneuf
Tim Erixon - Andrew MacWilliam

Jonathan Bernier
James Reimer

Scratched: None.
Suspended: Nazem Kadri
Injured: Stephane Robidas (shoulder), Roman Polak (hernia), Nathan Horton (concussion), Peter Holland (upper body)

San Jose

Melker Karlsson - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski
Tomas Hertl - Logan Couture - Tommy Wingels
Matt Nieto - Chris Tierney - Patrick Marleau
John Scott - Ben Smith - Barclay Goodrow

Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Justin Braun
Matt Irwin - Brent Burns
Scott Hannan - Brenden Dillon

Antti Niemi
Alex Stalock

Scratched: Mirco Mueller, Daniil Tarasov
Injured: Mike Brown (leg), Raffi Torres (knee)

Final Thoughts

Just look at that line up. It screams "TANK! TANK! TANK!". This one won't be pretty. Enjoy if you want to watch. If you can, check out the IceDogs/Colts game, I'll be there checking up on Carter Verheaghe. The IceDogs are 3 points back of home ice for the first round of the playoffs, so it will be a good game.