The Toronto Maple Leafs are back in action tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks. Tonight’s game is a special one, as it is in honour of their long-time play-by-play commentator, Joe Bowen, in what they are calling “Holy Mackinaw Night.”
Related: Auston Matthews’ Fall-Off Is Forcing an Uncomfortable Conversation in Toronto
The Maple Leafs are coming off a very poor outing against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night. They lost 6-3 and had four turnovers that led directly to goals against. Tonight, this is something that just about every member of Leafs Nation expects to be cleaned up and not a factor in this game against the Blackhawks.
The Maple Leafs finally got some good news on the injury front. Goaltender Joseph Woll has been cleared to play and will return to the crease tonight as the team’s starter. Unfortunately, things with Anthony Stolarz don’t seem to be trending in the right direction. Head coach Craig Berube spoke to the media and said that Stolarz is going to see another specialist and confirmed that the injury is not concussion-related. He then added some concerning news about his injury: “He’s not making the progress that we thought he would make.”
With the Maple Leafs taking Woll off injured reserve (IR), they sent Artur Akhtyamov down to the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. It also looks like Dakota Joshua will be returning to the lineup tonight after missing the last game due to illness. Calle Jarnkrok is set to be a healthy scratch with Joshua returning.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Season Record: 13-11-5 (33 pts)
Top Scorers:
Goalie Stats:
Chicago Blackhawks
Season Record: 13-13-6 (32 pts)
Top Scorers:
Goalie Stats:
(Subject to change before puck drop)
7 p.m. ET; TSN4, CHSN
Mathew Knies — Auston Matthews — William Nylander
Bobby McMann — John Tavares — Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz — Scott Laughton — Easton Cowan
Dakota Joshua — Nicolas Roy — Max Domi
Morgan Rielly — Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe — Troy Stecher
Simon Benoit — Henry Thrun
Joseph Woll
Dennis Hildeby
Scratched: Philippe Myers, Calle Jarnkrok
Injured: Chris Tanev (upper body), Anthony Stolarz (upper body), Brandon Carlo (lower body), Dakota Mermis (lower body), Matias Maccelli (illness)
Blackhawks projected lineup
Tyler Bertuzzi — Frank Nazar — Andre Burakovsky
Oliver Moore — Ryan Greene — Nick Lardis
Teuvo Teravainen — Jason Dickinson — Ilya Mikheyev
Colton Dach — Dominic Toninato — Ryan Donato
Alex Vlasic — Louis Crevier
Matt Grzelcyk — Wyatt Kaiser
Ethan Del Mastro — Connor Murphy
Spencer Knight
Arvid Soderblom
Scratched: Sam Lafferty, Artyom Levshunov
Injured: Connor Bedard (upper body), Nick Foligno (hand)
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