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The Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping for a repeat of their previous meeting against the New York Rangers, but the one-sided victory at Madison Square Garden last week is likely not to occur again against one of the best teams in the NHL.
An illness-riddled Toronto club won 7-3 on December 12 with third-stringer Martin Jones making his first start in Blue and White. One week later, Jones is coming off a 38-save shutout (his first as a Leaf) against Pittsburgh on Saturday and will be making in his second straight start.
Canada's lineup for its first exhibition #WorldJuniors game against Denmark's U-25 team.
— Steven Ellis (@SEllisHockey) December 19, 2023
Remember, no stream. pic.twitter.com/E55CypUVSS
"The greatest challenge would be that we faced them last week and we had a good night in their building." Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said on Tuesday. "(The Rangers are) a great team, that has had a great season and has been a good team in the league for a number of years for good reason, You'd expect them to bounce back here tonight, as they have bounced back and played very well since that game."
The Leafs will be getting Auston Matthews and TJ Brodie back in the lineup. Both players sat out the 7-0 win over the Penguins with the flu but skated at practice on Monday and during the morning skate. Matthews skated between Matthew Knies and William Nylander on the top line, and Brodie resumed his spot on the top pairing with Morgan Rielly.
With Brodie back in the lineup, Jake McCabe was paired with Timothy Liljegren, while William Lagesson moved down to the bottom pairing with Conor Timmins. Jones starting over Ilya Samsonov calls into question whether the veteran is just being rewarded for a shutout over Pittsburgh or whether there continue to be questions about Samsonov’s consistency.
Igor Shesterkin (11-7-0, 2.91 GAA, .904 save %) will get the start for New York.
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