Toronto Maple Leafs @ Vancouver Canucks
07:00 PM at Rogers Arena
Watch on: SN, CBC

The Leafs last game was away on January 29 against the Seattle Kraken, which Toronto lost by a score of 5-2 in regulation. The Leafs have a record of 24-21-9 for a 0.528 Points %.

The Vancouver Canucks last played at home on January 29 against the Anaheim Ducks. The Canucks won by a score of 2-0 in regulation, and their current league record is 18-31-5 for a 0.380 Points %.

Them

The Vancouver Canucks are trying to sort things out so Elilas Pettersson the defenceman doesn't have to use his second name.

If that sounds like fun, I would bet the Cauncks fans have a different perspective.

The wheels are off, the team is off the rails, it's a dumpster fire, they're done, flip 'em over and do the other side. So that means they are the single most unpredictable team in the NHL.

They want to beat the Leafs though, especially that 2C.

Lines

Jeff Paterson via Daily Faceoff

Evander Kane - Elias Pettersson - Conor Garland
Filip Chytil - David Kämpf - Linus Karlsson
Drew O'Connor - Aatu Räty - Jake DeBrusk
Liam Öhgren - Max Sasson - Jonathan Lekkerimäki

Elias Nils Pettersson - Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson - Tom Willander
Pierre-Olivier Joseph - Tyler Myers

Kevin Lankinen
Nikita Tolopilo

Us

Several wheels have missing nuts and they wobble alarmingly, they bump on and off the rails quite a lot and there is a very strange odour of garbage and smoke sometimes.

William Nylander is back, so Jacob Quillan drops out, and Marshall Rifai, who was looking like he could make the team in training camp, gets a shot. He has only played in 12 games this year in the AHL, so he's the least injured and best conditioned defender the team has. Rifai got in a couple of NHL games two years ago, but did not play last year outside the Marlies. He's 27, which counts as a baby on the Leafs defence corps.

Easton Cowan, who has not been on fire lately (in the good way) gets a rest day.

Lines

David Alter via Daily Faceoff

Bobby McMann - Auston Matthews - Max Domi
Matias Maccelli - John Tavares - William Nylander
Matthew Knies - Nicolas Roy - Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz - Scott Laughton - Calle Järnkrok

Jake McCabe - Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Morgan Rielly - Brandon Carlo
Marshall Rifai - Troy Stecher

Joe Woll
Anthony Stolarz

The Game

I was going to say something like "things fall apart", but as much as I genuinely mean it when I say this sport is an enactment of the human struggle, it seems a bit much these days to imbue a hockey game between two troubled teams with that much meaning.

Nonetheless they do struggle to keep things whole, and we watch them do it, critical in the excess of every moment.

Note: no confirmation on either starting goalie.

Game Coverage