Here are the Leafs' projected forward lines against the Kings
The Leafs put the lines in a blender on Thursday in San Jose, running Alexander Kerfoot with Matthews and Marner and shifting Michael Bunting down to play with Calle Jarnkrok and Denis Malgin. They also a line that consisted of Zach Aston-Reese, David Kampf and Pierre Engvall. While that line did contribute a goal in the contest, both Engvall and Aston-Reese were very "vanilla", with Engvall taking an ill-advised penalty leading to a 5-on-3, during which the Sharks scored twice.
The lines didn't last the entire game and Keefe attempted to mix and match players to try to spark something for his team and it did work, allowing the Leafs to claw their way back into the game before losing the game 4-3 in OT thanks to a brutal William Nylander giveaway.
On Friday, Keefe made some additional roster tweaks, sliding Bunting back up to the Matthews/Marner line, shifting Kerfoot back to Tavares' wing, opposite William Nylander, which leaves Nick Robertson on a line with Jarnkrok and Wayne Simmonds, who draws back in after sitting last night out in San Jose. The 4th line that featured Kampf and Engvall last night will welcome back Nicolas Aube-Kubel who hasn't played since October 20th against the Dallas Stars.
The Leafs have dropped 2 out of their last 3 games, beating the Winnipeg Jets up and down the ice to start their road trip in Manitoba, but losing in Vegas on Monday and last night in San Jose. To say that these next two games are very important - even "must-win" games for the Leafs isn't overstating anything. The Leafs simply cannot go 1-4 on this road trip. Even 2-3 is embarrassing when you consider the fact that all 5 teams are teams who finished below the Leafs in the standings last season. 4 of them were non-playoff teams last year.
Hopefully this roster shuffle can help get the boys back on track with the back-to-back set to kick off tomorrow night in Los Angeles. The Leafs will then travel to Anaheim to take on the Ducks on Sunday.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 28 | 13 ANSWERS Here are the Leafs' projected forward lines against the Kings Will the Leafs beat the Kings and the Ducks to go 3-2 on this 5-game road trip? | ||
| Yes | 7 | 53.8 % |
| No, they'll beat LA but not Anaheim | 1 | 7.7 % |
| No, they'll beat Anaheim but not LA | 2 | 15.4 % |
| They'll lose both games | 3 | 23.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
