"The Toronto Maple Leafs host the Edmonton Oilers tonight in Toronto and it's set to be quite the game. While the Leafs will be without Jake Gardiner, the Oilers will be getting their best player back. Connor McDavid returns from his suspension for hitting Nick Leddy tonight, and it seems he's extremely revved up to get it going. While speaking to the media before the game on Wednesday, Oilers head coach Ken Hitchcock said he expects a big game from McDavid. "I expect him to play well. He's pissed off and hopefully he stays that way from 7 p.m. until 9:30.p.m. He's not a happy guy right now and that's good for us. We need him back."
Leafs' forward Mitch Marner told reporters that the team will be focused on McDavid all night. "It takes all five guys on the ice, we're going to have to communicate a lot and make sure we stay above him. He's got a lot of speed so it's going to take a five-man group to bring him into an area to make it hard for him to get out of it. I'm sure he's going to be ready to play, he's missed the last two and this is his hometown so he's going to want to play."
The Leafs will also be without Nazem Kadri tonight as he misses his fourth straight game due to concussion. Here's a look at tonight's projected lineup for the Leafs:FORWARDS
Andreas Johnsson -- Auston Matthews -- Kasperi Kapanen
Zach Hyman -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner
Patrick Marleau -- William Nylander -- Connor Brown
Tyler Ennis -- Frederik Gauthier -- Trevor Moore
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Morgan Rielly -- Ron Hainsey
Jake Muzzin -- Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott -- Igor Ozhiganov
GOALIE
Frederik Andersen
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