Puck drop: 10:30 p.m. EST | Arena: Staples Center | TV: TSN4 | Radio: TSN1050
Game Day Quotes
Mike Babcock facing the Kings for the second time in as many weeks:
It helps you with the prescout. You know what they’re doing. All the good teams in the league that win all the time — there’s a reason. It’s pretty easy to get a handle on what they’re doing, but they just do it better and longer than most teams. We’re playing a real good team. Best start in history and haven’t lost at home. It will be a lot of fun here tonight.
Babcock on the team’s win over LA at the ACC on Oct. 24:
We played hard. We took care of the puck, played well without it, and were hard on the goaltender in the offensive zone. We’re going to have to do exactly the same here today. We feel we are capable. We’ve just got to be prepared to do it right. It’s not easy to do it right every night. You’ve got to dig in and do it.
Babcock on the lack of power play opportunities of late:
I would say until last night we didn’t deserve to. If you don’t work hard enough and you don’t play in the o-zone, you don’t draw any penalties. Last night was a peculiar one for me, but that’s the way it goes.
Babcock the JVR – Marleau – Brown line’s performance in Anaheim:
They played good. We had four lines last night. We’re set up perfectly for today. We rolled them out the door. No one played too much. We should be fresh here today. I liked every one of my lines last night.
Babcock on what he’s looking for from Kasperi Kapanen tonight:
Just speed on that line. Give him an opportunity and see what he’s got. The other guys, I’m not 100% if they’re back in against St. Louis, but it’s not like they’re out for sure, either. We’ll just go from there.
Morgan Rielly on Ron Hainsey’s play since arriving in Toronto:
He’s been playing well. I’ve talked about it before. I’ve enjoyed playing with him. He’s obviously very valuable to this team with the minutes he plays and what he’s been able to do.
Rielly on the challenge against the Kings:
We looked at some video this morning, some things we did well. They’re obviously having a great start. They’re a big team. They’ve been good for a long time and have lots of experience. We’ll have a good challenge tonight. I think it’s important we get back to playing like we did against them and playing like we did last night — lots of speed, getting pucks in and just getting in on the forecheck. That’s the best part of our game.
Kasperi Kapanen on Leo Komarov as a mentor:
He’s always been kind of like a father figure to me since I got to Toronto. He took me in and I stayed with him and his wife. He took care of me, so I owe him a lot. We’ll see if I can get him a good pass today or something.
Matchup Stats
| TOR | LA | |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 8-5-0 | 9-2-1 |
| GF/g | 3.85 (2nd) | 3.25 (9th) |
| GA/g | 3.38 (24th) | 2.0 (1st) |
| PP% | 25% (6th) | 15.8% (21st) |
| PK% | 84.1% (9th) | 93% (1st) |
| Shots/g | 32.2 (12th) | 34.0 (6th) |
| Shots Against/g | 33.1 (21st) | 32.0 (13th) |
| 5v5 CF% | 51.71% (7th) | 50.83% (11th) |
| 5v5 SV% | .905 (26th) | .937 (4th) |
| 5v5 SH% | 11.2% (1st) | 8.8% (13th) |
Toronto Maple Leafs Projected Lineup
Forwards
Hyman – Matthews – Nylander
Komarov – Kadri – Kapanen
JVR – Marleau – Brown
Martin – Bozak – Marner
Defencemen
Rielly – Hainsey
Gardiner – Zaitsev
Borgman – Polak
Goaltenders
Andersen
McElhinney
Scratched: Moore, Carrick, Leivo
Los Angeles Kings Projected Lineup
Forwards
Iafallo – Kopitar – Brown
Pearson – Kempe – Toffoli
Cammalleri – Shore – Lewis
Amadio – Laich – Andreoff
Defencemen
Forbort – Doughty
Muzzin – Martinez
MacDermid – Fantenberg
Goaltenders
Quick
Kuemper
Injured: Gaborik, Clifford, Carter
