Keefe shuffles entire lineup ahead of Wednesday's clash with the Avs
After a poor second period against Buffalo on Monday, one that Sheldon Keefe called their worst period of hockey all season, the Leafs returned to the ice this morning ahead of their tilt with Colorado tonight. In light of their performance Monday, Keefe decided to shuffle most of the lineup for tonight's game.
Calle Jarnkrok now finds himself on the top line next to Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner while Michael Bunting has been promoted from the third/fourth line duty to the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander. The only line that remained in tact at the morning skate was the line of Zach Aston-Reese, David Kampf and Noel Acciari with Alexander Kerfoot and Sam Lafferty skating alongside likely placeholder Wayne Simmonds.
The Leafs are likely going to continue playing with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen. Erik Gustafson ran through practice as the 7th D. Keefe also reunited Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie on the top pair and Mark Giordano and Timothy Liljegren on the 3rd pair. Gio and Liljegren have experienced a lot of success playing together in the past. Jake McCabe saw himself paired up with Justin Holl (we feel for you, Jake), and Luke Schenn, who arrived from Vancouver after the birth of his child the other day will sit this one out with Conor Timmins as he gets back up to speed in his first skate back with the team.
Ilya Samsonov, as we reported earlier, is likely to get the nod tonight against MacKinnon, Makar and the Avs.
