Here's an unbelievable Justin Holl stat from Game 4
Sheldon Keefe received a ton of deserved backlash for inserting Justin Holl into the lineup for Games 3 and 4, while putting Timothy Liljegren in the press box. Liljegren was not having a bad series by any means, but has less experience than Holl playing in these games. Holl is also a major penalty killer for the Leafs whereas Liljegren still has things to learn in that role.
Holl has been absolutely horrible 5-on-5 since being inserted into the lineup, but as far as the penalty kill goes, Holl has actually been excellent. Last night alone, Tampa was 1-8 on the powerplay with the only goal coming on a 5-on-3 while Holl was on the bench. Holl played a total of 4:50 shorthanded And limited Tampa's scoring chances efficiently during his time on ice.
Liljegren is certainly the better player at 5-on-5, which begs the question, should Keefe go with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen in game 5 and only use Holl sparingly at 5-on-5 and feed him his minutes on the PK? Not only would it limit the mistakes of Holl, but having one less forward would also allow Keefe to double shift Matthews, Marner, Tavares and others with the fourth line to get them favourable matchups more frequently.
Tampa has used 11F, 7D a few times over the past couple years and it's helped them win back-to-back Cups. It'll be interesting to see what happens at practice tomorrow.
| POLL | ||
MAI 9 | 553 ANSWERS Here's an unbelievable Justin Holl stat from Game 4 Should the Leafs go with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen on Tuesday for Game 5? | ||
| Yes | 372 | 67.3 % |
| No | 181 | 32.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
