New Jersey Devils @ Toronto Maple Leafs - Game 79
07:00 PM at Scotiabank Arena
Watch on: SNO, MSGSN2
The Leafs last game was away on April 9 against the New Jersey Devils, which Toronto won by a score of 5-2 in regulation. The Leafs have a record of 46-23-9 for a 0.647 Points %. The Devils have a record of 37-37-5 for a 0.500 Points %
Them
I don't think they've changed much since Tuesday. Today's lineup includes tough guy MacDermid and AHL recall Graeme Clarke who has played in one NHL game and is starting on the top line. It's that time of the year.
Lines
Amanda Stein via Daily Faceoff
Graeme Clarke - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt
Timo Meier - Erik Haula - Dawson Mercer
Ondrej Palat - Shane Bowers - Alexander Holtz
Kurtis MacDermid - Chris Tierney - Nolan Foote
Luke Hughes - John Marino
Kevin Bahl - Brendan Smith
Jonas Siegenthaler - Simon Nemec
Jake Allen - assumed starter
Akira Schmid
Us
The Leafs haven't changed much since Tuesday either. They did not practice yesterday, since it was a travel day.
All Leafs defenders were at morning skate, which might be a first. Joel Edmundson is expected to play tonight.
McCabe resting tonight, Timmins out with Edmundson and Lyubushkin coming in.
— Lance Hornby 🇺🇦 (@sunhornby) April 11, 2024
Sheldon Keefe says Timothy Liljegren will join the group for practice tomorrow and the hope is he’ll get into the lineup at some point before the playoffs.
— David Alter (@dalter) April 11, 2024
With Connor Dewar in for Noah Gregor, the arrangement of the bottom six could change.
And a note about player shuffling. No one is getting punished, choices are not being made about who is good/bad today. It's all about rest and having everyone ready for the playoffs.
Lines
I have made up some defence pairs with the people expected to play.
Tyler Bertuzzi - Auston Matthews - Max Domi
Bobby McMann - John Tavares - Mitchell Marner
Nicholas Robertson - Pontus Holmberg - William Nylander
Matthew Knies - David Kämpf - Connor Dewar
Morgan Rielly - Ilya Lyubushkin
T.J. Brodie - Simon Benoit
Mark Giordano - Joel Edmundson
Ilya Samsonov - starter
Joe Woll or Martin Jones
The Game
The Leafs have their last homestand of the regular season today and Saturday. Sheldon Keefe had said a week or more ago that he was thinking of having the team stay in Florida after the final game in Tampa. So it would be understandable if the players see this as their last week at home and might have split priorities.
The extent to which the players keep focus in games with no effect on the standings is admirable. But we'd enjoy a couple of wins, guys.
