It’s game night again! Why it feels like just yesterday that I dreamed the Leafs played the Ottawa Senators.
Tonight’s game is at 7 p.m. and is on Sportsnet Ontario, TSN5 and RDS which makes that a game subject to blackouts, I believe.
Ottawa will have mostly the same lineup as last night, or maybe they will do something weird:
Matthew Peca will draw in for Artem Anisimov vs TOR tonight.
— Ian Mendes (@ian_mendes) February 18, 2021
The Sens will dress 7 D during warmup, but DJ Smith declined to mention how he would work his defence pairings tonight. There is a chance Christian Wolanin draws back in for Ottawa.
I’m sure the Leafs are on tenterhooks waiting to find out who the Sens put on defence. I haven’t found confirmation of their starter yet, but Marcus Hogberg seems most likely.
Meanwhile the Leafs have decided to give out some rest breaks and this is the lineup I’m guessing at:
Joe Thornton - Auston Matthews - Mitch Marner
William Nylander - John Tavares - Nic Petan
Jimmy Vesey - Alex Kerfoot - Ilya Mikheyev
Pierre Engvall - Travis Boyd - Jason Spezza
Morgan Rielly - TJ Brodie
Jake Muzzin - Justin Holl
Travis Dermott - Mikko Lehtonen
Michael Hutchinson
Someone as backup! There is space to recall Joe Woll and let Andersen have the night off:
Keefe said Frederik Andersen has been dealing with "some things" as well, so they need to get him some rest
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) February 18, 2021
Zach Hyman is also day-to-day after blocking a shot last night.
The Marlies are also playing tonight at 7 in Manitoba, and they play again tomorrow at 5 p.m. if you are considering getting AHLTV, it’s a very good service and very reasonably priced now.
Go Leafs Go!