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The Toronto Maple Leafs will finish off the 2022-23 regular season against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, with only personal achievements and giving players a final respite before the arduous ordeal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs begins early next week.
The contest has little or no meaning for both clubs, as the Leafs are locked into second place in the Atlantic Division and will play Tampa Bay, while the Rangers are in third place in the Metropolitan Division with no chance of catching either Carolina or New Jersey to gain home ice advantage in the first round.
After sitting out the 4-3 victory over Tampa on Tuesday, Mitch Marner is expected to play in the season finale, with a chance to reach the 100-point mark for the first time in his career. William Nylander, who scored against the Lightning, has a chance to tie Auston Matthews for the club lead and reach the 40-goal plateau.
Similar to their strategy resting of players earlier in the week, Toronto appears to give some of their veterans the night off. Leafs captain John Tavares did not take the morning skate in New York. Tavares took a hard hit from Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev but finished out the game. Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that veteran Mark Giordano will not suit up since the 39-year-old is dealing with a minor injury.
Rookie Matthew Knies, who assisted on Ryan O’Reilly’s game-winner on Tuesday, will play the left side with the veteran center and Nylander, with Noel Acciari centering a third line with Alex Kerfoot and Calle Jarnkrok, and David Kampf playing between Zach Aston-Reese and Conor Timmins.
After an impressive 46-save performance on Tuesday and with Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray both dinged up, rookie Joseph Woll will get the start in goal on Broadway and the Leafs will sign a goaltender on an amateur tryout as a backup. There are indications that Murray is nearing a return from a head injury suffered earlier this month, and that he would be the backup if Samsonov is the starter in Game 1.