Toronto Maple Leafs @ Detroit Red Wings
2:00 PM At Avicii Arena, Stockholm
Watch on TSN4, NHLN, BSDET
Note, as per usual with all NHL games on TSN, if you are outside the Leafs region in Canada, you can watch streaming on Sportsnet Premium.
The Leafs last game was six days ago when they beat the Canucks 5-2. Their record is 8-5-2 so far for a points % of .600.
The Red Wings played yesterday and lost in overtime 5-4 to Ottawa. Their record is 8-5-3 so far, which gives them a points % of .594.
The two teams are third and fourth in the Atlantic depending on how you count points (which is incorrect) or points % (which is how you should always do it).
Long before the Sphere was spherical in Las Vegas, Globen was, well, globular in Stockholm. Built in 1989, it became the sun in a scale model of the solar system that is spread across Sweden. Now named Avicii Arena, it's still most commonly called Globen, which means "the globe" (surprising, I know).
For the Global Series, Globen has an NHL-sized ice surface, with lines done to NHL specifications. The main differences in the arena are the player benches that extend deep beyond the blue lines, which will be a challenge to teams on changes, and the glass at the ends of the arena which is the same height as at the sides.
For a television viewer used to NHL hockey, it's little different. The sounds and lights are the same. The arena announcer is Mike Ross, from Scotiabank, and the ads on the boards are digitally Canadian.
There is a lot of space behind the benches (likely due to the rink dimensions for these games), so you don't have fans right behind the players, and the crowd is smaller, so naturally a little quieter. Avicii seats under 14,000 for hockey, over 4,000 less than Scotiabank.
Them
The Red Wings are coming off a game yesterday played at the same time, in the same place. So while it's a SEGABABA for them, they've been in Sweden longer than the Leafs and have had more time to adjust to the time zone.
They played a hard one, coming back from 4-0 to lose in overtime, so they might be more than a little tired and annoyed. They are icing Alex Lyon today, and we should see Justin Holl in for one of the Detroit defenders – they are continually rotating with seven playable defenders.
Dylan Larkin had a scare when he fell awkwardly on a faceoff, but he was fine after a brief time to walk it off.
Lines
@DetroitRedWings via Daily Faceoff from the last game, expect some substitutions
Alex DeBrincat - Dylan Larkin - Lucas Raymond
Andrew Copp - JT Compher - David Perron
Robby Fabbri - Joe Veleno - Christian Fischer
Klim Kostin - Michael Rasmussen - Daniel Sprong
Jake Walman - Moritz Seider
Ben Chiarot - Jeff Petry
Olli Maatta - Shayne Gostisbehere
Alex Lyon - starter
James Reimer
Us
The Leafs have had one practice here and took yesterday as an off day, but we should expect the lines to be fairly standard.
John Klingberg says the ailment that is bothering him is something he’s dealt with in his career. He’s feeling better but not good enough to play tonight. @BodogCA
— David Alter (@dalter) November 17, 2023
Lines
Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Tyler Bertuzzi - John Tavares - William Nylander
Nicholas Robertson - Max Domi - Calle Järnkrok
Bobby McMann - David Kämpf - Noah Gregor
Morgan Rielly - T.J. Brodie
Mark Giordano - Jake McCabe
William Lagesson - Simon Benoit
Joe Woll
Ilya Samsonov - projected starter
The Game
Neck-and-neck with the Red Wings is not where the Leafs want to be. And while it seems like ages since they played badly for a lot of games, or since they played well in their last one, they are mostly the same team. Winning these two road games in Sweden is important to get back on track.
Note: because this game is on in the afternoon, you'll be stuck with this post for your GDT needs.
Go Leafs Go!
