After being blow out by Washington Friday night, the Leafs (16-24-9) head to Nashville to take on the Predators (29-16-3).

Synopsis: A key win against Philadelphia could have sparked some life into the Leafs had a potential streak not been blown dead in Washington Friday night. The Leafs were outplayed and embarrassed on the road, and it has left a sour aftertaste in their mouth. Tonight’s game against Nashville won’t be easy by any means, but the season is passing by quickly and collecting as many wins as possible, regardless of the team, is vital to make the playoffs.

Keys to Success:

• Gustavsson gets the start tonight. He hasn’t played great lately, and the Leafs will need him to make a few big saves early and stay consistent throughout the game. Conversely, the defense need to help their goalie out. If they leave him out to dry, there’s not much the Monster can do.
• It’s expected the line of Kulemin – Bozak – Kessel will stay together. This line has shown great things while they have been together, but they failed to produce statistically last game. They will be counted on to lead the team offensively.
• Toronto has done a better job of staying out of the box lately, but they’re still not getting it done on the penalty kill. The penalty kill is successful only 68% of the time, putting them 30th in the league for that stat. They need to be tight on the forwards and defense, and stop being so relaxed. Also, they need to be able to clear the puck. If they can do both these things, it should start to improve slowly.
• The Predators are led offensively by Patric Hornqvist and JP Dumont, in terms of goals and assists respectively. They’re not that deep in forward depth, but they’re defense is quite solid. Pekka Rinne is playing amazing as of late. It will be hard to crack the goalie and defense, but with a few quality scoring chances it can be done. This game will rely more upon the Leafs keeping pucks out of their own net than putting it in Nashville’s. Look for the score to be low if the Leafs win, and higher if not.

News/Notes:

• Gustavsson gets the start tonight. Jeff Finger and Rickard Wallin are the scratches
• Likely lines are: Kulemin – Bozak – Kessel, Ponikarovsky – Stajan – Hagman, Blake – Mitchell – Stempniak, Rosehill – Mayers – Orr
• Defensive pairings should be: Kaberle – White, Beauchemin – Gunnarson, Schenn – Exelby
• Did you see the nasty Cormier elbow? If not watch and read about it here.
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