The Toronto Maple Leafs continue their West Coast swing against the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center on Thursday, hoping to maintain their winning ways in Northern California, where the club has not won since January 2011; a game infamous for former coach Ron Wilson putting up a cash bonus to his players as a bounty to get the 600th win of his career against his former club.
The Leafs will not make any changes from the lineup that won 5-1 in Los Angeles on Tuesday, but will have a more difficult challenge against the Sharks, who lead the Pacific Division with 23 points (10-6-3) and are coming off a 5-4 win over Nashville on Tuesday.
“(San Jose) has got a good team, they can really forecheck, they can get on top of you.” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said on Thursday morning. “The matchup on the back (end) with (Marc-Edouard)Vlasic, (Brent) Burns and (Erik) Karlsson, (they) roam all over the rink.”
The game marks the second time that Patrick Marleau returns to San Jose in an opposing uniform. The 39-year-old was held scoreless in two outings against the Sharks last season.
“It’s still a little weird, a little funny (to play here), it’s definitely easier the second time around.” Marleau said. “You have a lot of emotions going through you and then right away they are dropping the puck and you don’t want to make a mistake, it was definitely challenging.”
Frederik Andersen (10-5-0, 2.02 GAA, .934 save %) will make his 16th start of the season for Toronto and Martin Jones (9-4-1, 2.79 GAA, .898 save %) will be in goal for San Jose. Jones has had the Leafs number during his career, with a 7-0-1 record, 1.46 GAA and .944 save % and Andersen has traditionally struggled vs. the Sharks (3-8-1, 2.60 GAA and .923 save %).
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Toronto has handled the absence of Auston Matthews as well as can be expected, going 4-3-0 since their star center injured his left shoulder, but now their Atlantic Division rivals have been bitten by the injury bug and will face the similar challenges.
Tampa Bay, already without forward Ondrej Palat, have lost goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy indefinitely to a fractured foot. The Lightning have called up veteran minor leaguer Eddie Pasquale from the AHL and former Coyote Louis Domingue is expected to get the lion’s share of the work between the pipes for the foreseeable future.
Boston, already without star youngster Charlie McAvoy, are fearful about a potential serious knee injury to veteran Zdeno Chara. The behemoth blueliner’s knee buckled in the first period of a loss to Colorado on Wednesday and he did not return.
The Leafs are one point in back of Tampa for top spot in the Atlantic and two points ahead of third place Boston, which means they could be able to take advantage of their rivals misfortunes if they continue to succeed and get Matthews back in the next few weeks.
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A few tidbits on the Nylander front:
Carolina GM Don Waddell made an appearance on TSN 1050 radio on Thursday and confirmed that the Hurricanes are amongst a number of teams that have interest in trading for William Nylander and that he has been in contact with Leafs GM Kyle Dubas on several occasions.
“Multiple teams in the league have talked to Kyle, just to see what’s going on. We’ve talked over a period of time, because we have young players that we’re also trying to sign here.” Waddell said, but also indicated that he had not been in contact with Nylander agent Lewis Gross.
Injuries may have an effect on teams thought to be in the sweepstakes. Anaheim lost defenseman Cam Fowler indefinitely with multiple facial bone fractures and that might have taken the Ducks out of the Nylander sweepstakes.
TSN’s Pierre LeBrun indicated that Anaheim was looking for defensive depth, which might be a sign that youngsters Jacob Larsson and Marcus Pettersson are not ready for full time duty. With Fowler injured, GM Bob Murray might not be willing to move Brandon Montour or Josh Manson in a deal for Nylander.
Leafs scouts continue to be a presence in other NHL buildings, which could mean a lot with just over two weeks left before the December 1 signing deadline.
A pair of Toronto pro scouts are on the list at the press box for tonight’s Devils – Flyers game in Philadelphia. This is the second time in the last week that the Leafs are checking out the Flyers, who are well stocked with young defensemen.
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Mike & Norm have returned for a new episode of the podcast. After nearly a week since the last collab, there’s much to sort through.
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