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Saturday, December 3, 2016

{allcanada} MAPLE LEAFS (10-9-4) at CANUCKS (10-12-2)

 

MAPLE LEAFS (10-9-4) at CANUCKS (10-12-2)

7 p.m. ET; CBC, NHL.TV

 
Maple Leafs team scope

The Toronto Maple Leafs are focused on rebounding from a 3-0 loss to the Calgary Flames on Wednesday rather than the emotional game against the Vancouver Canucks almost one month ago. The Canucks and Maple Leafs combined for 171 penalty minutes in a 6-3 Toronto win on Nov. 5, most of them came after Toronto center Nazem Kadri's blindside hit on Vancouver forward Daniel Sedin 6:42 into the third period. Toronto forward Matt Martin called it "the most emotional game for us of the season" but that it wasn't the focus anymore. "Obviously coming off a tough loss in Calgary, where we weren't ready to start the game, we're focused on getting two points," Martin said. "It's a big game for us and we need to get back on track." Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen, who is 4-2-0 with a .940 save percentage in his past six starts, missed practice Friday because he was sick, coach Mike Babcock said. But Andersen is expected to play after backup Jhonas Enroth lost to Calgary, giving up a goal on each of the first two shots. "We've got to start on time, obviously," Babcock said. "That's a huge priority for us. Should be well-rested, ready to go, had a spirited game against Vancouver last time, and they are always tough for us in this building, so we have to be prepared."

 
Canucks team scope

Vancouver is more worried about re-establishing momentum after a 3-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday than the earlier loss at Toronto. Vancouver had won consecutive games for the first time since starting the season with four straight wins. The Canucks are 6-4-1 in their past 11 games but lost nine straight from Oct. 22- Nov. 7. "We're trying to get back to where we want to be," forward Brandon Sutter said. "We've been playing good enough to get ourselves back after a bit of a tough stretch through October. A win goes a long way. We'll look to do that." Goalie Ryan Miller will make his third straight start despite giving up six goals on 42 shots in Toronto and seven goals in his past two games. The Canucks are focused on doing a better job in front of their goalie against the Maple Leafs, who are tied with the Pittsburgh Penguins for fourth in the NHL at 3.04 goals per game. "It's going to be a pretty tight-checking game," Sutter said. Toronto also defeated Vancouver twice last season, ending a seven-game losing streak in Vancouver that dated to 2004. "We haven't played great against Toronto the last couple times," coach Willie Desjardins said. "We've got to find a way to play better. That's all we're looking at."

 
Maple Leafs projected lineup

James van Riemsdyk -- Tyler Bozak -- Mitchell Marner

Zach Hyman -- Auston Matthews -- Connor Brown

Leo Komarov -- Nazem Kadri -- Nikita Soshnikov

Matt Martin -- William Nylander -- Ben Smith

Morgan Rielly -- Nikita Zaitsev

Jake Gardiner -- Martin Marincin

Matt Hunwick -- Roman Polak

Frederik Andersen

Jhonas Enroth

Scratched: Peter Holland, Frank Corrado, Connor Carrick

Injured: Josh Leivo (lower body), Joffrey Lupul (sports hernia)

 
Canucks projected lineup

Daniel Sedin -- Henrik Sedin -- Brandon Sutter

Sven Baertschi -- Bo Horvat -- Alexandre Burrows

Markus Granlund -- Michael Chaput -- Loui Eriksson

Jack Skille -- Brendan Gaunce -- Jayson Megna

Luca Sbisa -- Troy Stecher

Ben Hutton -- Erik Gudbranson

Nikita Tryamkin -- Philip Larsen

Ryan Miller

Jacob Markstrom

Scratched: Alex Biega, Joseph Labate

Injured: Alexander Edler (finger), Derek Dorsett (shoulder), Jannik Hansen (rib), Anton Rodin (knee), Christopher Tanev (lower body)

 
Status report

Babcock said Marincin, who has been a healthy scratch for the past three games, could get back into the lineup. "I haven't decided exactly but I think so," Babcock said. The indication at practice was that Marincin would replace Carrick on the right side of a defense pair with Gardiner.

 
Who's hot

Matthews scored in three straight games (four goals) before being shut out in Calgary. … Marner has three assists in his past three games. … Eriksson has two goals and an assist during a three-game point streak and six goals in his past 11 games after failing to score in the first 13.

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