Rielly returns as the Maple Leafs look to clinch a playoff berth tonight against the Lightning

With Rielly’s return to the blue line, Mark Giordano is the odd man out. After skating in three games after returning from a concussion, the veteran blue-liner recorded one goal and was a plus-one during Toronto’s three-game winning streak. The 40-year-old will likely get back into the lineup toward the final couple of games on the schedule but will still serve as a reliable depth option for Toronto.

Pregame details:

Toronto Maple Leafs’ lineup:

Tyler Bertuzzi – Auston Matthews – Max Domi
Bobby McMann – John Tavares – William Nylander
Matthew Knies – Pontus holmberg – Nick Robertson
Connor Dewar – David Kampf – Ryan Reaves

T.J. Brodie – Jake McCabe
Morgan Rielly – Ilya Lyubushkin
Simon Benoit – Conor Timmins

One lineup note: With Rielly back in the mix, he’ll be projected on a pairing with Ilya Lyubushkin, with T.J. Brodie and Jake McCabe together and Simon Benoit alongside Conor Timmins. The forward lines remain the same, and after coming off a two-goal performance with his not-so-new-but-new-look-first-line, Auston Matthews will look to inch closer to breaking Alex Ovechkin’s salary cap era goal record (65) and ultimately 70.

Tampa Bay Lightning’s lineup:

Anthony Duclair – Brayden Point – Nikita Kucherov
Steven Stamkos – Anthony Cirelli – Brandon Hagel
Michael Eyssimont – Nicholas Paul – Mitchell Chaffee
Tanner Jeannot – Luke Glendening – Tyler Motte

Victor Hedman – Darren Raddysh
Haydn Fleury – Erik Cernak
Emil Martinsen-Lilleberg – Matt Dumba

Projected goalies:

Joseph Woll (TOR) vs Andrei Vasilevskiy (TB)

Ilya Samsonov had the last two starts against the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers, winning both, but Joseph Woll was Toronto’s first goalie off the ice this morning and is the projected starter for tonight’s contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Broadcast:

Sportsnet, 7:00 pm ET/4:00 pm PT

(Stats from hockey-reference.com)

(Projected lineups from dailyfaceoff.com)