Report: Leafs Welcome Back Defenseman

After a 17-game hiatus which saw Martin Marincin sidelined since December 17th due to injury, the Toronto Maple Leafs can now count on added defensive help tonight as they take on the Ottawa Senators in the "Battle of Ontario".

Marincin, 24, will lace up his skates for the first time after crashing heavily into the boards against the Boston Bruins, and his timing could not be any better as head coach Mike Babcock's troops will have to be without star defenseman Morgan Rielly for a second consecutive game.

Marincin returns tonight, Babcock says #Leafs
— Terry Koshan (@koshtorontosun) January 21, 2017

Martin Marincin will play tonight, Babcock confirms. Playing with Nikita Zaitsev. Will be a big help to penalty kill too.
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) January 21, 2017

Marincin will line up next to Nikita Saitsev, which can only mean one thing for Frank Corrado who can't seem to catch a break lately: he will be a healthy scratch tonight, presumably.

Here are tonight's projected line combinations and defensive pairings:

#Leafs line rushes:
Komarov-Kadri-Nylander
JVR-Bozak-Marner
Hyman-Matthews-Brown
Martin-Gauthier-Soshnikov
Leivo
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) January 21, 2017