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Game Day: Maple Leafs at Rangers
Lance HornbyMore from Lance Hornby
Game Day: Maple Leafs at Rangers
TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS at NEW YORK RANGERS
Sunday, 7 p.m., Madison Square Garden
TV: Sportsnet; Radio: 590 AM
THE BIG MATCHUP
Garret Sparks vs. Henrik Lundqvist
The Rangers’ 3-0 loss to Carolina on Friday sums up much of their season, a great game by Lundqvist with 30 saves, but no offensive support on a team blanked five times this season. Lundqvist has struggled against Toronto in the past, but was on the bench when rookie Alexander Georgiev faced the Leafs in a 5-3 loss in Toronto on Dec. 22. Sparks is expected to make his 13th appearance in pursuit of his eighth win.
FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME
Manhattan transfer
Though the Leafs played Saturday, this could be a favourable matchup in a back-to-back. The Rangers had been defying the experts by staying in the playoff hunt, but have lost three of their past four and are 0-4 against the Leafs since the start of last season. These teams tend to open up as well, averaging more than a combined seven goals a game in that span, which would favour the more dynamic Leafs, though not their coach.
J.T. is back
No Leaf is more familiar with the MSG vibe than John Tavares, with 40 points in 44 overall games against the Rangers while getting a rough ride from the crowd. He had two assists in the Dec. 22 game. Linemate Mitch Marner is also averaging a point a game versus New York in his brief career.
Aftershocks
The Rangers saved one of their worst performances Friday for the 25-year reunion of their most recent Stanley Cup team. After a few of those stars such as Mark Messier dropped in to speak to the team, the flat effort was a huge disappointment to coach David Quinn.
Centres of attention
Tavares could come up a few times against Mika Zibanejad, the Rangers’ busiest faceoff man, who is ranked close to him in wins on the draw near the top of the NHL chart. Zibanejad is also New York’s top scorer.
Hobbit habit
If Zibanejad is the Big Zee, Mats Zuccarello, the Norwegian Hobbit, has a smaller profile, but 19 points in his last 12 games against the Maple Leafs, part of six career multi-point games against Toronto.
MAPLE LEAFS GAME DAY LINES
LW C RW
Zach Hyman John Tavares Mitch Marner
Patrick Marleau Auston Matthews Kasperi Kapanen
Connor Brown Nazem Kadri William Nylander
Par Lindholm Frederik Gauthier Andreas Johnsson
DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Jake Muzzin Morgan Rielly
Jake Gardiner Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott Ron Hainsey
GOALIES
Frederik Andersen
Garret Sparks
RANGERS GAME DAY LINES
LW C RW
Chris Kreider Mika Zibanejad Mats Zuccarello
Pavel Buchnevich Kevin Hayes Jesper Fast
Filip Chytil Ryan Strome Vladislav Namestnikov
Jimmy Vesey Boo Nieves Vinni Lettieri
DEFENCE PAIRINGS
Marc Staal Anthony DeAngelo
Brady Skjei Adam McQuaid
Brendan Smith Kevin Shattenkirk
GOALIES
Henrik Lundqvist
Alexandar Georgiev
INJURIES
Toronto: None
NY Rangers: D Fredrik Claesson (shoulder); C Brett Howden (knee)
SPECIAL TEAMS
POWER PLAY
Toronto: 21.1% (14th)
NY Rangers: 20.8% (16th)
PENALTY KILLING
Toronto: 80.7% (13th)
NY Rangers: 77.0% (26th)
Sunday NHL preview: Toronto Maple Leafs at New York Rangers
By Dave FeschukSports Columnist
Sat., Feb. 9, 2019
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
PUCK DROP: 7 p.m.
/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/sports/leafs/2019/02/09/sunday-nhl-preview-toronto-maple-leafs-at-new-york-rangers/blueline.jpg)
The ongoing issues of defensive partners Jake Gardiner, left, and Nikita Zaitsev could lead Leafs head coach Mike Babcock to shake up his pairings on the blue line. (Kevin Sousa / GETTY IMAGES)
TV: Sportsnet
RADIO: Sportsnet 590 The FAN
KEY PLAYERS
Sparks/Lundqvist
If form holds, Garret Sparks is expected get the start in goal for the Leafs on the second leg of a back-to-back set. With Henrik Lundqvist looming a night after Toronto faced Montreal’s Carey Price, Toronto could theoretically take shots at the two highest-paid goaltenders in the NHL in a 24-hour span. (When Price’s current cap hit of $10.5 million kicked in this season, it usurped Lundqvist’s $8.5 million annual average value as the NHL high-water mark). In any case, advantage Maple Leafs: Lundqvist, now age 36, has 32 career meetings against Toronto and sports an .897 save percentage, his worst mark against an Eastern Conference opponent.
NEED TO KNOW
Sparks has allowed two goals against in three of his past four starts … The struggles of the Toronto defensive pairing of Nikita Zaitsev and Jake Gardiner have been well documented. Leafs coach Mike Babcock acknowledged Saturday the possibility of a shakeup on the blue line, suggesting he could spread the wealth of Toronto’s top pairing, which currently consists of Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin. “I don’t know what I’ll do — maybe (move Muzzin to) a different pair. We’ll just see what happens.”
UP NEXT Tuesday at Colorado, 9 p.m.
