Matthews and Marner's Game Status Officially Revealed - Full Projected Lineup vs. the Hurricanes
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
The Maple Leafs will have some big-time firepower when they face the Hurricanes on Saturday as both Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are back in the lineup.
With the Carolina Hurricanes in town for the first game back since the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Maple Leafs are looking to make a statement against a team who has a lot of questions themselves heading into the trade deadline, and are also out to make a statement.
The Leafs are in good hands for Saturday as though there were initially some small concerns about their status, both Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are in the lineup, and surprisingly; on the same line again.
It seems that the tension between the two due to the 4 Nations has subsided and the two can focus on working together to help the Maple Leafs make a big playoff push (though Marner is going to have some bragging rights for sure).
It's a good sign too because Toronto is going to be without Max Pacioretty for the weekend, meanwhile Connor Dewar and Calle Jarnkrok are close to returning but aren't there yet.
Toronto needs to hope that the two superstars can find their chemistry again, and though there are always talks about keeping the two away, perhaps coming back from the break, it's best to put them together and ride Marner's momentum.
Toronto's Lineup vs. Hurricanes: What To Expect
Toronto's lineup is pretty similar to the one we've seen the majority of the year, except Bobby McMann takes the second line duties and Max Domi pops back to the third line.
Alex Steeves finds himself on the fourth line in a bit of a surprising move, as Toronto's desperate need for offense isn't on their fourth line, and Pontus Holmberg would have been a better fit for the bottom line.
Anthony Stolarz finds himself in net for the Maple Leafs and that's a positive sign for the team as they'll need all the help they can get to prevent the Hurricanes powerful offense with Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho, and Seth Jarvis.
It remains to be seen if both Matthews and Marner can make an impact as they will no doubt be a bit exhausted after the 4 Nations Finals, but Toronto will be in tough against a motivated Hurricanes team.
The game takes place at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday night with the puck drop scheduled for 7PM ET.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 22 | 600 ANSWERS Matthews and Marner's Game Status Officially Revealed - Full Projected Lineup vs. the Hurricanes Do you think Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are going to be impactful against the Carolina Hurricanes? | ||
| Yes | 435 | 72.5 % |
| No | 165 | 27.5 % |
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