Leafs vs. Lightning Preview: November 6, 2023. Join Our Game-Day Chat!
Leafs vs. Lightning Pre-Game Notes:
It's a crucial game night at Scotiabank Arena as the Toronto Maple Leafs gear up to face the Tampa Bay Lightning, aiming to break their current winless streak. The Leafs are on a quest to avoid their first five-game winless slump since April 2021 and are counting on their star player, Auston Matthews, to lead the charge. Matthews, eyeing his fourth hat trick of the season, is poised to make a significant impact but the Leafs will need more than just him to step up.
Nick Robertson was called up, he’ll be in the lineup.
Toronto is hungry for redemption after letting a 3-1 lead slip away in their previous encounter with Tampa Bay. Comments by the Leafs players varied before the game, but most had similar messaging. After taking harsh criticism, players like Ryan Reaves emphasized the need for intensity and hunger on the ice. Centre David Kampf stressed the importance of defensive improvements to curb their goals-against average. The Leafs, currently allowing 3.27 goals per game, are focused on shoring up their defense.
Defenceman Morgan Rielly said the Leafs are determined to find their rhythm and elevate their game and the expectation is an intense matchup, with both teams hungry for a win.
Projected Leafs lineup for Monday's game:
Knies - Matthews - Marner
Bertuzzi- Tavares - Nylander
Robertson - Domi - Jarnkrok
Gregor - Kampf - Reaves
Rielly - Brodie
McCabe - Klingberg
Lagesson - Benoit
Samsonov starts
Woll
Join Our Game-Day Chat
Welcome back to our THW Toronto Maple Leafs Substack subscriber chat!
This is a conversation space in the Substack app that we’ve set up exclusively for subscribers — like a group chat or live hangout. Here you can comment on the game as it’s happening and we’ll all cheer … or air our frustrations together. (we ask that you keep it PG, as hard as that might be).
This has now become a paid feature only, so be sure to subscribe to our premium content!