The Golden Knights are right where they want to be with 22 games left in the regular season. They have won five of their last six games and have a four-point lead for first place in the Pacific Division.
The Knights (36-18-6) will try to keep things rolling when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs at 7 p.m. Wednesday at T-Mobile Arena. They can become the fourth NHL team to reach the 80-point mark with a win, but they’ll have to slow down the surging Maple Leafs (38-20-3), who are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.
“(Toronto is) buying in,” captain Mark Stone said. “They got some bigger defenders on the back end from years past, and their goalies are playing well, too. You still have to be aware of that high-end talent.”
The Knights lost the first meeting between the two teams this season 3-0 in Toronto on Nov. 20.
First-year Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube has imposed a physical, defensive style that has made the team hard to score against. But Toronto still has elite offensive threats like center Auston Matthews, right wing Mitch Marner and right wing William Nylander.
“They’ve got some high-end talent that drives offense,” coach Bruce Cassidy said.
Goaltender Joseph Woll, who had a 31-save shutout against the Knights in November, will start again for the Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
Cassidy is making some tweaks to his forward group for the game. Left wing Tanner Pearson will play on the top line, while Victor Olofsson will move to the fourth line.
Pearson will be Stone and center Jack Eichel’s third left wing in the last three games following Olofsson and Brandon Saad.
Cassidy said the swap is meant to spark Pearson and fourth-line center Nicolas Roy. Pearson has one goal in his last 19 games, while Roy has one in his last 21.
“I just feel like Nic and (Pearson) haven’t had a lot of offensive moments,” Cassidy said. “That’s not their primary role, but they’re forwards and forwards need to feel good about their offensive game.”
Goaltender Adin Hill will start for the Knights and attempt to earn his fourth straight win. He’s allowed two goals his last three starts.
Projected lineup
Tanner Pearson — Jack Eichel — Mark Stone
Brandon Saad — Tomas Hertl — Pavel Dorofeyev
Ivan Barbashev — Brett Howden — Keegan Kolesar
Victor Olofsson — Nicolas Roy — Raphael Lavoie
Nic Hague — Alex Pietrangelo
Noah Hanifin — Zach Whitecloud
Brayden McNabb — Kaedan Korczak
Adin Hill
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
