Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Columbus Blue Jackets – Game #11 Projected Lines, Preview & TV Info
Sammy Blais will make his Toronto debut with William Nylander on the sidelines as the Maple Leafs seek their third consecutive victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets (7:30 p.m. EST, Sportsnet).
Game Day Quotes
Craig Berube on the expectations for Sammy Blais in his Leafs debut:
Sammy is going to play his game. He is a physical player. He is going to take the body and forecheck hard. He has the capability of making something happen in the offensive zone, especially in tight areas. He has good hands in tight areas. He just has to go play his game.
I’ve seen it before. He will bring energy tonight.
Berube on what his team can build off of after last night’s win over Calgary:
The way we managed the puck was pretty good. There were some turnovers that cost us, but overall, the puck management was pretty good. We played directly for most of the game. When you do that, good things happen. We ended up with almost 40 shots on net, with a lot of good opportunities.
In back-to-backs, you have to be intelligent and smart. We gave up maybe one or two odd-man rushes in last night’s game, so we have to stay with that. This team can go. They like to go.
Berube on the keys to success in a tired situation:
It is a back-to-back with travel. You have to play with intelligence. You have to understand situations a little bit more. It will be key for pucks to go deep on line changes. There will be some separation plays.
You just have to play smarter. You have to stay above people and be more patient in your game.
Berube on the challenge presented by Adam Fantilli:
He is a good player, obviously. He has all of the tools. They have some really good players over there with a lot of talent. They can skate and move pucks. It starts with Werenski on the backend. He is a handful.
Berube on so much of the attention focusing on the Blue Jays:
It’s deserving. The Jays are in the World Series. There is only one team in Canada. Canada is focused on that right now, in my opinion, especially in Toronto. It is the right thing.
Berube on Auston Matthews’ recent play:
He is getting looks. I like the way he attacked on the power play last night and shot the puck. I think he had seven or eight attempts on the power play alone. He just has to stay with it.
I know everybody focuses on one area of his game — scoring goals — but I am looking at his whole game, and it is pretty good.
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lines
Forwards
#74 Bobby McMann – #34 Auston Matthews – #89 Nick Robertson
#23 Matthew Knies – #91 John Tavares – #63 Matias Maccelli
#81 Dakota Joshua – #55 Nicolas Roy – #53 Easton Cowan
#18 Steven Lorentz – #11 Max Domi – #79 Sammy Blais
Defensemen
#22 Jake McCabe – #2 Simon Benoit
#95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson – #25 Brandon Carlo
#44 Morgan Rielly – #51 Philippe Myers
Goaltenders
Starter: #30 Cayden Primeau
#41 Anthony Stolarz
Extras: Joseph Woll, Dakota Mermis
Injured: William Nylander (day-to-day), Calle Jarnkrok (day-to-day), Chris Tanev (IR, UBI), Scott Laughton (IR, LBI)
Columbus Blue Jackets Projected Lines
Forwards
#10 Dmitri Voronskov – #23 Sean Monahan – #86 Kirill Marchenko
#38 Boone Jenner – #19 Adam Fantilli – #91 Kent Johnson
#4 Cole Sillinger – #3 Charlie Coyle – #24 Mathieu Olivier
#11 Miles Wood – #21 Isac Lundestrom – #Yegor Chinakhov
Defensemen
#8 Zach Werenski – #5 Denton Mateychuk
#9 Ivan Provorov – #78 Damon Severson
#15 Dante Fabbro – #2 Jake Christiansen
Goaltenders
Starter: #90 Elvis Merzlikins
#73 Jet Greaves
Injured/Out: Erik Gudbranson
