The Toronto Maple Leafs head into Minnesota for Game 68 of the NHL season on the second night of a back-to-back as they face the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center.
In this preview, Zack Phillips breaks down the expected Maple Leafs lineup, including the top unit featuring John Tavares and William Nylander, along with the continued evaluation of young players like Matthew Knies and Easton Cowan in the top six. With Auston Matthews currently out of the lineup, the Leafs are experimenting with combinations as they push through the late stretch of the season.
Zack also discusses the development of players such as Nic Robertson, the physical presence of Dakota Joshua, and what the Leafs might want to see from younger players down the lineup. On defense, the pairings featuring Morgan Rielly, Brandon Carlo, Jake McCabe, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Simon Benoit, and Philippe Myers are examined heading into the matchup.
In goal, Anthony Stolarz is expected to start for Toronto after a strong outing from Joseph Woll the night prior, while Minnesota counters with highly regarded prospect Jesper Wallstedt. Plus, Zack dives into the betting lines and delivers his best bets of the night, including anytime goal scorer picks featuring Kirill Kaprizov, William Nylander, and Matthew Knies.
Drop your thoughts in the comments — do you want the Leafs to win this game, or is it better for the bigger picture if they slide down the standings?
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Chapters:
0:00 Game 68 Preview – Leafs vs Wild
0:40 Leafs Lineup Overview
1:00 Nylander & Tavares Top Line Discussion
2:10 Matthew Knies Season Analysis
3:35 Easton Cowan Top-Six Opportunity
4:10 Third Line Expectations – Robertson & Joshua
5:20 Physical Play and Lineup Debate
7:00 Craig Berube Usage Questions
8:30 Leafs Defensive Pairings Breakdown
9:30 Morgan Rielly & Brandon Carlo Pairing
10:05 Power Play Units
10:30 Goaltending: Anthony Stolarz vs Jesper Wallstedt
11:15 Betting Lines and Odds
12:45 Anytime Goal Scorer Picks
14:30 Final Thoughts & Score Predictions
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8 Comments
Hope the boys play hard and that Berube gives the marlies more minutes in ultimately a competitive but losing effort.
This guy pumps content like a beast 💪
The leafs should start taking out all the other teams Captains just to make a point
Marlies have a winning environment… and are heading towards playoffs.
Leafs don't…
So, it is best to leave the youngest prospects on the Marlies..
All Leaf fans overvalue the players. Knies and Cowan are alright but without solid veterans leading the way they will not be able to carry the Leafs in the coming years. Treliving or the new GM has a ton of work to do.
Nylander is a very selfish and spineless player.He should be the first one to be traded.They will never win with guys like him on the team. Tell him to give you a list of 10 teams he would go to and get this jerk out of town.
Matthew knies is a meat head
Somebody needs to get in Berube's ear about trying some of the young marlies d men out.. we have the 2nd worst GAA in the league with arguably one of the best tandems of goalies over the last couple seasons. It's almost as bad as Canucks who have actively been tanking for months. Yeah great you're giving Marlies forwards a look finally but our biggest issue is underperforming/overpriced dmen. Can we see some Marlies d men not named Phillipe myers, Dakota mermis or Matt Benning? Jeez watching Berube's decision and not wanting to accept we need to see what we have in the minors is like pulling teeth