The Canadian and the Maple Leafs will cross swords for the third time in four evenings. This time in Toronto.
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Mike Matheson will not be traveling but was back in training. The defenseman missed a few days of training camp with a lower-body injury. He was originally scheduled to play against the Senators last Wednesday, but his name was preemptively removed from the lineup at the last moment.
Christian Dvorak was back with his teammates, but was wearing a gray sweater that protected him from any contact. For their part, Alex Newhook, Joel Armia and Gustav Lindström did not jump on the ice at the Brossard Sports Complex. The Canadian stated that the three players would be checked daily for upper body injuries.
Here are the five things to keep in mind while playing today.
1. Two auditions
With only about thirty players left in camp, the time for auditions is virtually over. Martin St-Louis now has two games to refine his game system and test certain combinations in preparation for the start of the season.
2. It’s Josh Anderson’s turn
With Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, another right winger will try to prove himself at their side. After Emil Heineman, Tanner Pearson, Alex Newhook and Sean Monahan, it’s Josh Anderson’s turn.
3. Heavy artillery for the Leafs
The Maple Leafs had minor league teams in Montreal. They’ve saved the big guns for tonight’s fight. The Canadian will have a lot to do against Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly.
4. Special forces for burglary
Of course, one of the aspects that needs to be worked on is the special teams. We can certainly attribute the team’s weaknesses at this level to the presence of several young players. However, there is still a lot of work to be done with two goals in 20 opportunities (10%) from the massive attack and five goals allowed in 18 appearances from the penalty kill (72.2%).
5. The evaluation for Mailloux and Norlinder continues
Logan Mailloux and Mattias Norlinder are two of the few young people still present at the Canadian camp. Both defenders will have another opportunity to showcase themselves this evening. Depending on the formations deployed during morning training, they will be at the forefront of each wave of the massive assault.
Lineup against the Maple Leafs:
Caufield-Suzuki-Anderson
Harvey-Pinard – Roof – Slafkovsky
Pearson-Monahan-Gallagher
Heineman – Evans – Ylönen
Norlinder-Savard
Xhekaj – Kovacevic
Harris Mailloux
Allen
Primeau
On the Leafs site:
Bertuzzi-Matthews-Marner
Domi – Nylander – Robertson
Knies-Tavares-Lafferty
Gregor – Fight – Reaves
Rielly-Brodie
McCabe-Liljegren
Benoit – Kokkonen
Samsonov
Petruzzelli