Keefe defends Leafs blueliner after a horrible Game 5
All season, Justin Holl has been the whipping boy of Leaf fans and the Toronto media. It's not because he is a bad player, it's just that when he makes a mistake, it's usually a very big, glaring mistake. The numbers don't lie as Holl has been on the ice for 73% of Tampa's goals this series and with Holl on the ice, the Leafs are being outscored 14-2.
Following a Game 5 loss and another failed attempt to close out a series, in which the Leafs are now 0-11, by the way, Sheldon Keefe was asked about Holl's play. "My first response would be whether he has been on the ice by himself in those situations. I think the answer is he is not out there by himself in those situations when he is getting scored on." Fair point Sheldon, but often when he is on the ice getting scored on it's because he has a memory lapse and forgets an assignment or he turns the puck over.
Keefe did his best to shelter Holl last night as he played just over 11 minutes at 5-on-5, but it didn't make much of a difference as he was on the ice for all three Lightning goals that weren't the empty-netter. We all know that Holl won't be coming out of the lineup, but maybe the Leafs change to an 11 and 7 formation for Game 6 to limit Holl's exposure 5-on-5 and give Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander the opportunity to get away from some of the matchups.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 28 | 362 ANSWERS Keefe defends Leafs blueliner after a horrible Game 5 Should Justin Holl come out of the lineup for Game 6? | ||
| Yes | 293 | 80.9 % |
| No | 42 | 11.6 % |
| 11F/7D might fix things | 27 | 7.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
