GDT: Leafs@Blues 8PM SNO

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Budsfan

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Game Day: Leafs at Blues
Lance HornbyMore from Lance Hornby
Game Day: Leafs at Blues

8 p.m., Enterprise Center
TV: SPORTSNET RADIO: TSN 1050
THE BIG MATCH-UP
G Jordan Binnington vs. C Auston Matthews
Hard to imagine a young goalie playing better in his initial NHL run than GTA-native Binnington – or someone whose homecoming in the previous game went more flat than Matthews’ much hyped return to Arizona where he and the Leafs were blanked by the Coyotes. Binnington has won eight straight to pass Brent Johnson’s rookie record. Toronto will be re-focused for this game, but Blues are rolling, much different than the group in that meek 4-1 loss at SBA on Nov. 2.
KEYS TO THE GAME
1. BIN THERE, DONE THAT

From a shutout in his first game when recalled from the farm in December, Binnington has a record 12-1-1, the most recent performance a 31 save clean sheet against the Wild on Sunday. That’s part of a streak of 187:16 without allowing one.
“We’re off to great starts and that kind of sets the tone for the rest of the game,” Binnington said.
2. TRAIL MIX
If the Leafs can get a lead, they have an exemplary record of 28-0-0 after 40 minutes. That’s if they score first and hold it a bit. St. Louis, with 10 consecutive wins to match a 17-year-old club record, has not been behind since the third period against Florida on Feb. 5 – eight games ago. In that stretch of 10, the Blues have a goal differential of plus-26.
3. END OF THE ROAD
The Leafs have had two days off to ready for the last of their season-long, six -game trip. The scheduling of this match when the team is en route home from the U.S. Southwest is never great, but a win would make it the most successful trip of its kind since a 3-3 split during a six-game trek in December of 2000.
4. HERE’S BOZIE
Ex-Leaf Tyler Bozak, playing second-line centre in St. Louis, has four points in his past five games. But the forward the Leafs should be most wary of is
Vladimir Tarasenko, with a goal and two assists on Sunday to improve his points streak to 12 games. Alex Steen took time off on the weekend with his pregnant wife close to delivery.
5. MISSISSIPPI MUZZ
Former L.A. King Jake Muzzin, now patrolling the blueline for the Leafs, has recorded his third highest-point totals of any opponent against the Blues with 12 in 18 games.
BLUES GAME DAY LINES
Brayden Schenn Ryan O’Reilly Vladimir Tarasenko
Jaden Schwartz Tyler Bozak Robby Fabbri
Zach Sanford Oskar Sundqvist Patrick Maroon
MacKenzie MacEachern Ivan Barbashev R. Thomas/A. Steen
DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Joel Edmundson Alex Pietrangelo
Jay Bouwmeester Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn Robert Bortuzzo
GOALIES
Jordan Binnington
Jake Allen
Sick Bay
D Carl Gunnarsson (upper body)
RW David Perron (upper body
RW Alex Steen (personal)
MAPLE LEAFS GAME DAY LINES
LW C RW
Zach Hyman John Tavares Mitch Marner
Patrick Marleau Auston Matthews Kasperi Kapanen
Andreas Johnsson Nazem Kadri William Nylander
Par Lindholm Frederick Gauthier C. Brown/T. Ennis
DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Morgan Rielly Ron Hainsey
Jake Muzzin Nikita Zaitsev
Jake Gardiner Travis Dermott
GOALIES
Frederik Andersen
Garret Sparks
SICK BAY
None
SPECIAL TEAMS
POWER PLAY

Toronto 21.1% (13th)
St. Louis 18.7% (18th)
PENALTY KILLING
Toronto 81.8% (9th)
St. Louis 80.1% (19th)

Tuesday NHL game preview: Toronto Maple Leafs at St. Louis Blues
By Kevin McGranSports Reporter
Mon., Feb. 18, 2019
ENTERPRISE CENTER
TIME:
8 p.m.

tarasenko.jpg

Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko has 22 points in his last 12 games. (David Zalubowski / The Associated Press)

TV: Sportsnet Ontario
RADIO: TSN 1050
KEY PLAYERS
Tarasenko/Matthews
The Blues’ Vladimir Tarasenko has a 12-game point-scoring streak, with 11 goals and 11 assists over that stretch. St. Louis is the only team Auston Matthews has failed to score a point against. He has no goals, no assists, 20 shots and is a minus-4 in five games against the Blues.
NEED TO KNOW
The Blues have won 10 games in a row, including their last three by shutout. That’s 187 minutes, 16 seconds of goal-free hockey, the third-longest streak in franchise history ... Goalie Jordan Binnington has won eight straight games, passing Brent Johnson for the longest winning streak by a rookie in Blues history ... St. Louis hasn’t trailed in a game since the third period against Florida on Feb. 5, eight games ago ... St. Louis has outscored its opponents 40-14 in its past 10 games ... Ryan O'Reilly has 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in his past 15 games.
UP NEXT Thursday vs. Washington, 7 p.m.
 

tom leafers

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Jan 25, 2017
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Its St. Louis, so im automatically expecting an overtime loss. Goals may also be hard to come by, so Freddy and the D better be on tonight
 

BertCorbeau

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Jan 6, 2012
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Bad vibes about this one. Trips to St Louis never seem to end well.

Add in its their last game on a 6 game road trip... yeah...

I’d like to see some good effort for a full 60
 

ToneDog

56 years and counting. #FireTheShanaClan!
Jun 11, 2017
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Just ****ing show up and win. Squander this one and we'll need help from Boston to re-acquire home ice advantage

When have the Bruins ever helped the Leafs? If Leafs want home ice they have to earn it. Bruins winning without Pasta and got away with an illegal tying goal last night vs Sharks. Everything is going their way.
 
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DarkKnight

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Jan 17, 2017
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This will be a fascinating matchup, Blues love to clog the neutral zone and play very defensive. See if Leafs can generate some open ice and fight through to get decent zone entries.

A great test.
 

BrannigansLaw

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When have the Bruins ever helped the Leafs? If Leafs want home ice they have to earn it. Bruins winning without Pasta and got away with an illegal tying goal last night vs Sharks. Everything is going their way.

Not going to dispute any of this, just saying the Leafs still have their games in hand. Lose these and we may as well say goodbye to home ice advantage. As you said, we won't be getting any help from Boston.
 

Al14

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Jul 13, 2007
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Big game. Expecting a BIG LOSS. Anything other than a loss would be super nice!
 

HamiltonNHL

Parity era hockey is just puck luck + draft luck
Jan 4, 2012
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This will be a fascinating matchup, Blues love to clog the neutral zone and play very defensive.

Why don't the Leafs try this for 5 games ?

Have our fast skating in the defensive direction and be opportunistic ?
 

Clark4Ever

What we do in hockey echoes in eternity...
Oct 10, 2010
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The boys have stepped up against the stronger teams in the league so I am expecting a much better effort tonight.
 

Tall Morty

Visualize the action to actualize the vision
Apr 18, 2017
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I hate playing the Blues, but hopefully they have something to prove after getting embarrassed in the desert.
 

willmma

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Jan 5, 2017
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The Blues are the hottest they have been all year. They have won 10 straight. Tampa is one of their victims in this stretch. They had shutouts in their last 3 games.
This will not be easy.
 

SniperOnTheWing

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Apr 28, 2017
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This will be a fascinating matchup, Blues love to clog the neutral zone and play very defensive. See if Leafs can generate some open ice and fight through to get decent zone entries.

A great test.

As much as I want to see Nylander back with Matthews full time, in this particular game the Kadri-Nylander combo needs to step up and feast on the weaker matchups.

And if the Matthews line can't get anything going by the third move Willy up there and let him carry the puck and make space for Auston (apparently Babs has forgotten how good he is at doing that)
 
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Nithoniniel

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Sep 7, 2012
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Babcock can impress me if he responds to Mattys call out and switches things up against teams that trap
This irks me a bit. Matthews were talking about the players on the ice, saying they got outworked and outsmarted. They were outsmarted because we kept forcing the same kind of plays that didn't work. Matthews himself was one of them, constantly trying to walk in for a shot that they took away instead of adapting to how the game looked.

People are acting like any hint of criticism towards decision-making has to be on the coaches, but that's pretty absurd. The players aren't just mindless drones who carry out the coaching staffs orders. There's tactical directives, and there's on-ice decisions. Matthews was clearly referring to the latter.
 

Gary Nylund

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The Blues are the hottest they have been all year. They have won 10 straight. Tampa is one of their victims in this stretch. They had shutouts in their last 3 games.
This will not be easy.

I just looked it up, in their last 7 games they beat TB, then NSH twice back-to-back, then beat NJ 8-3 followed by 3 shutouts. I'd guess that's as hot as any team has been this year.
 

ULF_55

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All streaks come to an end.

Lets hope the Blues take the Leafs lightly.

Mitch should have a big game tonight. He should be over his contract dispute hangover and focused on just playing again.
 
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