The Maple Leafs hope to make it five out of six points on their California road trip but must dig in as a tired team against the rested Anaheim Ducks, who are out of playoff contention but have won three of their last four (8:00 p.m. EST, Sportsnet Ontario). With the Panthers’ regulation loss to Montreal this afternoon, the Maple Leafs can open up a three-point lead at the top of the Atlantic with a victory.
Game Day Quotes
Craig Berube on the challenge presented by the Ducks:
They have lots of good young players who are playing well right now. They won their last two games.
Pretty balanced lineup. They have a couple of young defensemen on the backend who get up the ice really well and skate well in Lacombe and Zellweger.
Their young guys are growing and getting better. Pretty good team. They are a young group that is starting to gel as a team.
Berube on the takeaways from the win in LA last night:
We talked about it being a playoff-type game, and that is what it was. It was low-event. I liked our checking. I liked how we protected our net front and the middle of the ice.
We stayed with it. We were down 1-0 in a tough building against a team that hasn’t given up a lead in a long time. They don’t lose at home very much. We stuck with it and found a way to win.
Berube on the team’s five-on-five play vs. the Kings:
Defensively, it was pretty sound. Offensively, we are always looking to create a little bit more in those types of games. It is tight, and they are a good checking team that doesn’t give you a lot. It is a big, heavy team.
We are always looking for ways to create more offense than we did last night. At the same time, you have to careful in doing that because we don’t want to play loose and exchange chances.
That will be important tonight. This team is very good off the rush and gets up the ice well with four or five guys. They skate extremely well. Our rush defense will be critical in today’s game.
Berube on Simon Benoit’s performances as of late:
I think he has been physical. That is a big part of his game, being a physical defenseman back there. He takes the body shift after shift. He makes it hard on the other team. For me, his penalty killing has been good, and his net-front presence has been good in his own end.
Berube on his expectations for Joseph Woll coming off of a tough game vs. San Jose:
He has done a good job of bouncing back this year after a game where he wasn’t satisfied with himself or wanted to be better. He has responded this year. I expect the same.
Simon Benoit on returning to Anaheim and the challenge the Ducks present:
I have good feelings here. I was in the minors for three and here for three. Those are good feelings, but it is not my first game back here. Just looking for the two points right now.
[The Ducks’] young guys are really good. Their defensive core is improving a lot with Zellweger and those kids. They are going to come at us, obviously. They are going to fight to create some odd-man rushes. We have to not give them those and defend well.
Benoit on his recent play:
It has been better. There is always some room to improve. I can’t say I am satisfied. I just want to tune in some stuff before the playoffs. I think I am trending in the right direction here.
Ducks head coach Greg Cronin on Leo Carlsson’s 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists, +10) in his last 18 games:
Since the 4 Nations tournament, it seems like he has more pace in his game and more explosiveness. I’ve talked about how he needs to get to the inside of the ice, play in the inner third of the ice, and he’s doing that… When he’s not carrying the puck, he’s driving inside ice, which is giving him puck recoveries in the offensive zone.
Cronin on Olen Zellweger’s steps forward this season as a developing defenseman:
He adds an element to our team that we don’t have. He’s an explosive offensive player. He gets up and down the ice… The thing I love about Zelly is that he’s fearless. He makes mistakes, and you coach him on those mistakes, but it doesn’t affect him. On the next shift, he’s ready to go.
Head-to-Head Stats: Maple Leafs (44-25-4) vs. Ducks (32-32-8)
In the 2024-25 regular season statistics, Toronto holds the advantage in five out of five offensive categories and five out of five defensive categories.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#23 Matthew Knies — #34 Auston Matthews — #16 Mitch Marner
#74 Bobby McMann — #91 John Tavares — #88 William Nylander
#24 Scott Laughton — #11 Max Domi — #19 Calle Jarnkrok
#29 Pontus Holmberg — #64 David Kampf — #18 Steven Lorentz
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe — #8 Chris Tanev
#44 Morgan Rielly — #25 Brandon Carlo
#2 Simon Benoit — #95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Goaltenders
Starter: #60 Joseph Woll
#41 Anthony Stolarz
Extras: Nick Robertson, Philippe Myers
Injured (LTIR): Jani Hakanpää, Max Pacioretty
Anaheim Ducks Projected Lines
Forwards
#77 Frank Vatrano — #16 Ryan Strome — #19 Troy Terry
#61 Cutter Gauthier — #91 Leo Carlsson — #17 Alex Killorn
#11 Trevor Zegras — #23 Mason MacTavish — #64 Sam Colangelo
#62 Nikita Nesterenko — #21 Isaac Lundestrom — #38 Jansen Harkins
Defensemen
#2 Jackson Lacombe — #7 Radko Gudas
#58 Oliver Kylington — #51 Olen Zellweger
#34 Pavel Mintyukov — #43 Drew Helleson
Goaltenders
Starter: #1 Lukas Dostal
#36 John Gibson
Injured/Out: Jacob Trouba, Robby Fabbri, Brock McGinn, Ross Johnston
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;
n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,
document,’script’,’ );
fbq( ‘init’, ‘136988390239911’ );
Source link
[ads]
Discover more from Canvas Home Wholesale.com
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
