What: Seattle Kraken at Toronto Maple Leafs
Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
When: Tuesday, March 8, 2022; 4:30pm PST
Wait, who are we playing? Landlubber’s Guide to the Toronto Maple Leafs
Coverage
Local TV: ROOT Sports NW
Streaming: ESPN+
Local Radio: 950 AM KJR
SiriusXM: Channel 222
Last Time Out
It was the same sad story for the Kraken when the Leafs visited Climate Pledge Arena back in mid-February: giving up a goal in the first 5 minutes; allowing more than half of the Toronto roster to notch a point; using both goalies but failing to reach the .800 save percentage mark; I could go on, but you’ve heard this story before. Final score 6-2 Toronto.
Stats, Streaks, & Droughts
As of this writing the Leafs occupy third place in the Atlantic Division, and enjoy the safe playoff spot that accompanies that position. They are five points behind the first place Florida Panthers, but also only three points ahead of the fourth-place Boston Bruins. A mere eight points is the difference between getting the top seed in the Atlantic division and settling for a wild card spot in the playoffs.
There is absolutely no way to predict which Toronto Maple Leafs team will show up on any given night. In the last 10 games they have beaten the Minnesota Wild — but lost to both the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres by a combined score of 10-3; they defeated the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins — but lost to the Vancouver Canucks, and split a pair of one-goal games with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Leafs are 5-4-1 in their last 10, the highlight (or low-light?) of that stretch being the chaotic 10-7 win over Detroit, a team that they should have bulldozed with ease. It’s a coin flip as to which club will take the ice against Seattle.
The Kraken, for their part, snapped a seven-game losing streak last week with a come-from-behind win over Nashville. Head Coach Dave Hakstol debuted some new line combinations for that outing, and three of the four lines ended up scoring. Those lines didn’t last long, for the best reason possible: Jaden Schwartz and Jared McCann both returned to the lineup. It didn’t matter, as neither managed to crack the scoresheet as Seattle lost to Washington 5-2 on Saturday, then dropped a hard-fought battle to the Hurricanes 3-2 the following night.
Noteworthy in the last several games were the droughts broken by Colin Blackwell, who scored twice in two games after going without a point in the previous seven; Alex Wennberg, who tallied against both Nashville and Carolina following a 19-game goalless streak; and Morgan Geekie, who scored against San Jose, ending a 20-game goal drought dating back to mid-December. And Calle Järnkrok quietly continues to make his presence known on the scoresheet, with 5+5=10 in his last 12 games.
Players To Watch
Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few years, I don’t have to tell you who the impact players are for the Leafs. We start with Auston Matthews, who has 40 goals and 72 points through 53 games, including 7+6=13 in his last 7 outings…
Next is Mitch Marner, with 60 points in 47 games, including a natural hat trick (plus one more for good measure) in that calamitous tilt against the Red Wings…
Then there’s John Tavares, who is having a “down year” with just 52 points in 55 games, but did just end a 14-game goal drought with this one against Vancouver…
And finally William Nylander, a franchise winger on most teams in the league, but relegated to playing 4th violin behind the three guys I just mentioned…
And it doesn’t even end there. If you manage to neutralize all four of those guys, you still have to deal with Michael Bunting. In what is really his first full season in the NHL, Bunting has come out of nowhere to notch 20 goals and 25 assists. However when you have guys like Matthews and Marner feeding you sauce every night, I suppose your job’s pretty easy:
Injuries, Illnesses, Additions, & Scratches
Toronto has a couple of major names out of the lineup at present. Forward Ondrej Kase had 23 points in 44 games before sustaining an upper-body injury; he is on Injured Reserve. Defenseman Rasmus Sandin is out with a non-COVID illness, his timeline for return is unknown. But the biggest hole in the roster is the one left by blue line stalwart Jake Muzzin, who sustained his second concussion in as many months back in February. He has been placed on LTIR, and his absence has the Leafs’ front office scrambling to add at least one defenseman before the deadline. More on that in a minute.
For Seattle, Brandon Tanev remains out for the season; but with McCann and Schwartz returning from injury, that leaves 13th forward Karson Kuhlman as the only company for Turbo on Injured Reserve. There is nobody on LTIR, and thankfully nobody is in COVID-19 protocol for Seattle.
The only other noteworthy roster change is the departure of Kraken Legend Austin Czarnik, claimed off waivers from the New York Islanders by the Kraken on February 8th, as he returned to Long Island via that same waiver wire on Sunday afternoon. Fair winds and following seas to you, lad.
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