Toronto Maple Leafs @ Columbus Blue Jackets
07:30 PM at Nationwide Arena
Watch on: TSN4, FDSNOH
That alphabet soup for the American broadcaster is the new Fan Duel branded station that used to be Bally Sports and Fox Sports before that.
The Leafs last game was at home on October 21 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, which Toronto won by a score of 5-2 in regulation. The Leafs have a record of 4-2-0 for a 0.667 Points %.
The Columbus Blue Jackets last played at home on October 19 against the Minnesota Wild. The Blue Jackets lost by a score of 3-1 in regulation, and their current league record is 2-3-0 for a 0.400 Points %.
Them
The Blue Jackets are more than just a tragedy; they are a team that wants to grow into a competitive one. They aren't going to get there this year, but they aren't forecast to be quite as bad as the Habs either. They are in a similar boat to Montréal, in that they have a lot of young players, which makes overall strength hard to predict each year. Columbus chose to add some veterans to the mix for this season.
Their main issue is goaltending, and once again, Elvis Merzlikins who had some kind of undisclosed issue, is one of the poorest performing goalies in the NHL. He is supposed to be back on the roster for this game. Danill Tarasov, who has played more, has been average or little below.
In their five games so far, Columbus has been outshot most of the time, and their biggest issues at five-on-five are offensive pace and poor goaltending. They have been surviving on a hot shooting percentage as a team. Their power play is better, likely their strongest part of their game. That said they have an identical Expected Goals rate on the PP as the Leafs do. So it's all relative to expectations if that's good or bad.
Lines
Mark Scheig via Daily Faceoff from yesterday's practice, noted by Scheig as a "different look"
Cole Sillinger - Sean Monahan - Kirill Marchenko
Yegor Chinakhov - Adam Fantilli - Mikael Pyyhtia
Zach Aston-Reese - Justin Danforth - Mathieu Olivier
James van Riemsdyk - Sean Kuraly - Kevin Labanc
Zach Werenski - Ivan Provorov
Jake Christiansen - Damon Severson
Jack Johnson - David Jiricek
Danill Tarasov - likely starter
Elvis Merzlikins
Us
Who is in net on this SEGABABA? As of midday there has been no information about the potential for Joe Woll to come off IR. Dennis Hildeby would have to return to the AHL. None of that has to happen before 5 pm today, however.
The option to bring in Ryan Reaves and rest someone is there. Timothy Liljegren could come in for Conor Timmins as well.
Given his goal last night, it would be unusual for Max Pacioretty to come out, so the lineup might be unchanged.
Lines
Projected via Daily Faceoff
Matthew Knies - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
Bobby McMann - Max Domi - William Nylander
Max Pacioretty - John Tavares - Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz - David Kämpf - Pontus Holmberg
Morgan Rielly - Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Jake McCabe
Simon Benoit - Conor Timmins
Anthony Stolarz
Joe Woll or Dennis Hildeby
The Game
That was a fabulous performance last night, and it's natural to rebound back to something a little less intense. The Blue Jackets are not a fast or exciting team, so the danger is getting bogged down in something boring where the Leafs don't get to use their skill to win it in the offensive zone.
See you at 🕢.
