LEAFS HUB GAME DAY REPORT: GAME 2 — RANGERS vs MAPLE LEAFS
NEW YORK RANGERS (0-1-0) vs TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (1-0-0)
October 7th, 2017
7:00 HNIC
Game Day !!
The Toronto Maple Leafs take to the ice in their home opener versus the New York Rangers tonite at the ACC. (It is still the ACC, right???)
The Leafs are coming off a decisive 7-2 victory against the Winnipeg Jets in the season-opening game on Wednesday evening.
After dominating most areas of the game, not like Sportsnet crew Hughson and Simpson will tell you, Coach Mike Babcock has decided to juggle a few players into the lineup.
On the 4th line, it would appear that Domenic Moore will jump into Center Connor Brown and Matt Martin. Moore, a healthy scratch in Game #1, signed a UFA contract on July 1st worth $1 million per year.
Most observers would suggest that Moore had a less than spectacular pre-season, and was passed on the depth chart by Eric Fehr AND by Miro Aaltonen.
On the blueline, it will be Calle Rosen who jumps in to play on the third pairing with Connor Carrick. Rosen, signed by the Leafs this summer as a free agent, was initially assigned to the Toronto Marlies after a strong pre-season.
Rosen was brought back up to the Leafs yesterday after Martin Marincin cleared waivers as of noon EST.
There is nothing to suggest that Andreas Borgman is in the doghouse with Coach Babcock, but the Leafs want to explore all avenues early in the season to see what pairings and lines work the best moving forward.
In net, we expect to see Frederik Andersen get the start. Andersen had an excellent game versus the Winnipeg Jets earlier this week, and if he was not on his game during the opening fifteen minutes of play, the game might have had a different outcome. The lean, mean ginger machine, had a .946 save percentage with a 2.00 GAA against the Jets.
Look for the Leafs to assert dominance with speed and transition play, which should be their calling card again this season.
Also look for the team to have learned from Game #1, and the penalties the league is looking to call them. No fancy tape, no tipped up helmets, and for the love of God, no tucked jerseys.
#GoLeafsGo
PROJECTED LINE SAMPLE
LEAFS
Zach Hyman — Auston Matthews — William Nylander
Patrick Marleau — Nazem Kadri — Leo Komarov
James van Riemsdyk — Tyler Bozak — Mitchell Marner
Matt Martin — Dominic Moore — Connor Brown
Morgan Rielly — Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner — Nikita Zaitsev
Calle Rosen — Connor Carrick
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
Scratched: Eric Fehr, Josh Leivo, Andreas Borgman
Injured: None
RANGERS
Chris Kreider — Mika Zibanejad — Pavel Buchnevich
Rick Nash — Filip Chytil — Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner — Kevin Hayes — J.T. Miller
Jimmy Vesey — David Desharnais — Paul Carey
Ryan McDonagh — Kevin Shattenkirk
Brady Skjei — Brendan Smith
Marc Staal — Tony DeAngelo
Henrik Lundqvist
Ondrej Pavelec
Scratched: Nick Holden, Steven Kampfer
Injured: Jesper Fast
MORNING SKATE
GO LEAFS GO
