#CSP #NHL #LEAFSNATION
William Nylander is a game-time decision (illness) and Timothy Liljegren will make his season debut on the blue line as the Maple Leafs look to make it three wins in a row when they welcome the LA Kings to Scotiabank Arena.
One of the league’s strongest defensive teams at five-on-five last season, the Kings started the 2024-25 campaign by limiting the Sabres and Bruins to just one goal apiece in regulation before Monday’s visit to Ottawa went squirrely on them defensively. They ran into major penalty trouble and allowed easy access to the middle of the ice throughout the final 40 minutes. Darcy Kuemper, out with a lower-body injury tonight, experienced a nightmare outing in the crease as LA conceded eight in an OT loss to the Senators.
The response to such a circus game—especially from a team with a strong defensive reputation like the Kings—is often a recommitment to discipline and defensive details. Add in the large contingent of Ontario-born players in the lineup for the visitors (five, even without Drew Doughty in the lineup), and the Leafs will need to be prepared for a motivated LA team tonight. Kings head coach Jim Hiller went ahead and provided some bulletin board material before the game:
“Of course, we are missing Drew. Drew loved to play in Toronto. He would bring everybody in from London. He is encouraging the guys and letting them know that you don’t lose when you come into Toronto.”
Speaking of defensive play, Toronto is off to an encouraging start. Through three games, they have yet to allow more than two goals to the opposition, and three of the five goals they’ve conceded have come on the opposition’s power play. They’ve kept things simple with the puck in their own zone and made the opposition go through numbers to create any looks, conceding very few odd-man opportunities at even strength thus far. With that early defensive progress in mind, Liljegren has been encouraged by his head coach to keep it simple with the puck and be hard/competitive around his net front as he makes his debut after three consecutive healthy scratches to start the season.
23 Matthew Knies — 34 Auston Matthews — 16 Mitch Marner
29 Pontus Holmberg — 91 John Tavares — 89 Nick Robertson
74 Bobby McMann — 11 Max Domi — 67 Max Pacioretty
18 Steven Lorentz — 64 David Kampf — 75 Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
44 Morgan Rielly — 8 Chris Tanev
95 Oliver Ekman-Larsson — 22 Jake McCabe
2 Simon Benoit — 37 Timothy Liljegren
Goaltenders
41 Anthony Stolarz
35 Dennis Hildeby
Extras: Philippe Myers, Conor Timmins
Illness/game-time decision: William Nylander
Injured (IR): Joseph Woll
Injured (LTIR): Calle Jarnkrok, Jani Hakanpaa, Connor Dewar, Dakota Mermis
Los Angeles Kings Projected Lines
Forwards
14 Alex Laferriere — 11 Anze Kopitar — 9 Adrian Kempe
10 Tanner Jeannot — 24 Phillip Danault — 12 Trevor Moore#dallascowboys
22 Kevin Fiala — 55 Quinton Byfield — 37 Warren Foegele
15 Alex Turcotte — 26 Akil Thomas — 61 Trevor Lewis
Defensemen
44 Mikey Anderson — 21 Jordan Spence#ottawasenators
84 Vladislav Gavrikov — 7 Kyle Burroughs
5 Andreas Englund/82 Caleb Jones — 92 Brandt Clarke
Goaltenders
31 David Rittich
29 Pheonix Copley
Out: Drew Doughty, Darcy Kuemper, Joel Edmundson
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