Maple Leaf fans were planning the parade after game 1, but quickly came back to earth after a sloppy second game. The Maple Leafs travel to Philly for round 2.
There weren't many 'good' things last night, but one player who stood out for me was Nazem Kadri. He played strong, and tried to make a few things happen. Also showed some physical play, which is nice to see.
I actually thought Komisarek didn't play that bad. But to determine if he fits in the lineup won't be known until later in the preseason after a few sets of cuts.
Tonight, I'm excited to see how Frattin bounces back from a 'meh' first game. He should be given a better opportunity to produce on a 'projected' line with Bozak and Armstrong.
It'll be nice to see Greg McKegg and Jerry D'Amigo hit the ice also. Both players need to prove themselves after going through peaks and valleys at points last season. McKegg is returning to junior unless something drastic happens, and D'Amgio is poised to take a spot in the top-nine with the Toronto Marlies.
On the defense, I'm intrigued to see what Korbinain Holzer can bring. I think he's at least another year away, but he's primed to take a bottom-pairing position in the near future - if he continues to develop. Juraj Mikus has fallen a bit on the depth chart, and may be another two-years away if anything but he has some intriguing offensive ability.
Confirmed names, unconfirmed line-up combination's...
Philadelphia
Andreas Nodl - Danny Briere -Jakub Voracek
Matt Read - Brayden Schenn - Max Talbot
Tomas Hyka - Claude Giroux - Scott Hartnell
Ben Holmstrom - Blair Betts - Jody Shelly
Kimmo Timonen - Erik Gustafsson
Brayden Coburn - Oscar Bartulis
Kevin Marshall - Andrej Meszaros
Ilya Bryzgalov
Jason Bacashihua
Toronto
Matt Frattin - Tyler Bozak - Colby Armstrong
Nikolai Kulemin - Joe Colborne - Greg McKegg
Luca Caputi - Daryl Boyce - Jerry D'Amigo
Ryan Hamilton - Philippe Dupuis - Jay Rosehill
Luke Schenn - Jake Gardiner
Carl Gunnarsson - Mike Komisarek
Juraj Mikus - Korbinian Holzer
Ben Scrivens
Jonas Gustavsson
Notes:
... Gustavsson and Scrivens expected to split the game.....Colborne playing his third game in three nights.....Colton Orr, Cody Franson, Keith Aulie are the healthy scratches.....Puck drops at 7:00pm on Rogers Sportsnet, and I'm sure you'll be able to catch a live-stream somewhere. Check out the game thread at Hockey's Future - Toronto Maple Leafs Forum to find live-streams of the game....Here's the list of those at Maple Leafs Training Camp List....
