The Time: 7:00 PM EST
The Broadcast: TV - MSG+; Radio - 660 AM & 101.9 FM WFAN
The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (10-6-5) at the Toronto Maple Leafs (13-9-0)
The Game Previews: My preview from earlier this morning is right here. For the other side of this game, please check out Pension Plan Puppets.
The Song for Tonight: The Leafs pretty much ensured Colton Orr has a regular spot in their lineup. Ergo, I'm reminded of "Enforcer" from Born to Expire by Leeway. You probably heard this in GTA4. It's a good of song as Orr is not as good at actually playing the game of hockey.
Gameday Info: Tom Gulitti reported today at Fire & Ice that Bobby Butler was claimed off waivers by Nashville. He had his chance in New Jersey and while it wasn't enough for Peter DeBoer to keep giving him regular minutes, it was enough for another organization to take a chance on him. In that same post, Krys Barch is expected to start with Stephen Gionta and Ryan Carter on the off-wing as Steve Bernier got a bump up in the roster to play with Alexei Ponikarovsky and Adam Henrique. The top six, defense, and starting goalie remain the same from the Buffalo game.
Toronto made a trade today. As reported here by Dave Shoalts of the Globe & Mail, the Leafs sent largely useless forward Mike Brown to Edmonton for a conditional fourth round pick. Remember, Andrei Loktionov was worth a fifth round pick so that's a thing. PPP laughs about it here. This move should open up a roster spot should Matt Frattin return tonight. Jonas Siegel of TSN says he's a gametime decision in his daily notes. Frattin, who had seven goals and three assists in ten games, could be with Nazem Kadri and Clarke MacArthur for a scoring favorable-match-up line. The Devils will have to be aware of him. Lastly, per Seigel's daily notes, James Reimer will start in net for Toronto tonight.
The Reminder of Rules: This is a place where you can comment about this game before, during, and after it's played before the recap is up. This is a place where we primarily discuss the Devils game. An odd mention of other NHL games is OK, but it shouldn't dominate discussion. All comments will be clean, respectful of each other, relevant to the game, and legal (read: no streams). Please do not post super-big pictures or .GIFs so the gamethread can keep moving for everyone. If you must use pictures, please put a title in the comment.
I'll be commenting here at times and also at times through @InLouWeTrust on Twitter. Go Devils!