Home Leafs News Game Day Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Calgary Flames – Game #26 Preview, Projected Lines...

Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Calgary Flames – Game #26 Preview, Projected Lines & TV Info

Nov 28, 2017

Puck Drop: 9:00 p.m. EST | Arena: Scotiabank Saddledome | TV: TSN4 | Radio: TSN 1050

Game Day Quotes

Calgary Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan on the coaching emphasis for a game between two teams with good transition games:

The neutral zone becomes really important. You don’t want — either side — to turn over the puck through there, especially with some of the talent coming the other way.

Gulutzan on coaching against fellow Saskatchewan native Mike Babcock:

He’s a good Saskatchewan guy there. A big-city Saskatchewan guy, though…. No, it’s good. I have a good relationship with Babs. He’s helped me as I was coming through the ranks. It’s fun to be on the other bench against him. It’s even more fun if you can beat him. I’m looking forward to it for sure.

Mike Babcock on what he likes about Connor Brown on Auston Matthews’ wing:

I just like Brown because he comes to work every day. He’s an every-day’er. He just brings it every single day. He’s good with the puck. He’s good without the puck. It doesn’t matter what line you start him on; he just finds a way to play all the time. That’s what is supposed to happen in hockey. When the game starts, the guys who are supposed to play the most play. The guys who don’t play the best aren’t supposed to play as much. That’s how it is. Brownie finds a way to play all the time.

Connor Brown on what him and Hyman are looking to bring to Auston Matthews’ line:

When it comes to forechecking and getting the puck back, I think we can both do our best to have the puck as much as we can with our work ethic and winning puck battles. The more time it’s in Auston’s hands, the better chance we got.

Brown on the need to limit the Flames’ chances in transition:

We’ve talked about that. We need to make sure we’ve got an F3 so we limit the odd-man chances. Four and five need to be tracking hard as well. Those are things we’ve got covered and will be a big part of tonight’s game.

Brown on his increased offensive output over the start of last season:

I think I can do a better job still. I think I’ve been turning down shots and sometimes I just need to throw it to the net and good things will happen. I feel good and, more importantly, we feel good as a team in here and we feel we’ve all taken a step forward. It’s a good thing to be a part of.

Babcock on whether the team is doing a better job of taking care of the puck lately:

Every time you turn it over, it’s usually going back the other way in a hurry. So get it, hang onto it, be heavy on it, and you have more success like that. The other team is trying, too. It’s hard. There is not a lot of room out there, but that’s what the good players do – they can make plays in small spaces.

I think we’ve been way better of late [at taking care of the puck]. In saying all of that, other teams are improving, too, and you’ve got to find a way to raise your game. This is a good real opportunity for us on this trip. We feel that our hockey team is doing a good job right now and we’re excited to play the Flames.

Auston Matthews on Matthew Tkachuk’s comment that Matthews saves his own highlights on his phone:

He’s honestly notorious for saving his videos and his highlights to his phone. He’s actually got one of him and Zach Hyman from when they played in Michigan. They got into it pretty good. It’s the other way around for sure. He’s kind of notorious for saving his highlights on his phone. He’s funny. He saves a lot of those and he’ll send them at random times throughout the year. You’re just like, “What do you want?”

Matthews on potentially going head to head with Sean Monahan’s line:

They move the puck really well. All three of them are super skilled. Johnny is really slippery and makes plays. Monahan is a really good 200-foot guy. The line has obviously been really hot lately. You don’t want to give them too much time and space. Their D are really active as well. We don’t want to be losing numbers above them because they come in on odd-man rushes and can really make you pay. They kind of get you all out of sorts in your d-zone, too.

Matthews on playing with Brown and Hyman tonight:

[Brown] and Zach are obviously workers. Brownie complements it with an unbelievable shot, too. He can score, he can make plays, he’s really good defensively, and he brings a lot to the table. I thought that last game in the third period we created a lot of opportunities and chances and we’re obviously all pretty familiar with each other. We played with each other last year. We’ve got some pretty good chemistry together and we’re hoping to continue that tonight.

Matchup Stats

	TOR	CGY
Record	15-9-1	13-9-1
GF/g	3.48 (4th)	2.91 (15th)
GA/g	3.04 (19th)	3.13 (22nd)
PP%	22.4% (9th)	22.2% (10th)
PK%	80.7% (15th)	73.8% (31st)
Shots/g	30.8 (18th)	32 (13th)
Shots Against/g	33.8 (27th)	33.1 (26th)
5v5 CF%	50.07% (16th)	51.93% (8th)
5v5 SV%	.922 (18th)	.931 (7th)
5v5 SH%	10.4% (1st)	7.0% (35th)