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Catching up in Eastern playoff race; Leafs vs. Oilers |
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The Toronto Maple Leafs finish up their four-game road swing against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, looking to keep pace in the tight race for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Leafs have victories against St. Louis and Vancouver, but squandered a one-goal lead in Calgary, surrendering three goals early in the third period in a 4-2 loss to the Flames on Thursday.
The Oilers are in second place in the Pacific Division with 40 points (18-12-4) and boast two of the best scorers in the league in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but they have lost four of their last five games and allowed six goals against in consecutive defeats to Carolina and Minnesota.
The Leafs will make a couple lineup changes against Edmonton. Forward Nic Petan was demoted to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL on Friday. Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that Frederik Gauthier would get back into the lineup after being healthy scratched for four games, Dmytro Timashov will be inserted on the fourth line after missing the last three games, and Pontus Aberg will sit.
Trevor Moore participated fully in practice on Friday, but will not be taken off LTIR to play against the Oilers and could make his return against the Buffalo Sabres at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
Frederik Andersen will make his seventh straight start for Toronto. Andersen has been excellent in recent weeks, but allowing three goals on three straight shots against Calgary may be a sign that the Great Dane is getting fatigued. Keefe said that backup Michael Hutchinson was slated to start on Thursday, but that they stuck with their starter after a superb outing against the Canucks.
"The Calgary start was the one that we had that we were looking at for Hutch and then the way the Vancouver game went, we felt we needed to go back with with Freddie." Keefe said. "(For the Oilers), we've got time between this game and our next, and (Friday was) a lighter day and as workload hasn't been that great this week as a whole, so we just feel like going back with him is important."
Based on the upcoming schedule, Andersen will likely to start against the Sabres in an important Atlantic Division tilt on Tuesday, with Hutchinson playing in one of the back-to-backs next weekend against the Rangers in New York on Friday or at home against the Detroit Red Wings.
The club leaning heavily on Andersen is definitely a sign of the Leafs precarious positioning in 12th place in the East. The Sabres earned a loser point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Islanders on Saturday and are in second place in the Atlantic with 39 points. Montreal, Tampa Bay, Florida and the Leafs are all within two points of each other, but the Habs, Lightning, and Panthers all have games in hand on Toronto.
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