Leafs putting the Group 1 lines in a blender after Tavares injury
The Leafs continue to plug away at practice in preparation for Wednesday's preseason game against the Montreal Canadiens - the third of seven preseason games on the docket for the Leafs before the regular season kicks off on October 12th.
Sheldon Keefe revealed on Tuesday that the team's captain, John Tavares, was absent from practice due to an upper-body injury, which meant that the Leafs would be forced to juggle the lineups once again during practice. It's still unclear as to who will see game action against the Habs on Wednesday, but if it is the Buds' first group, that means we'll see Matthews, Marner and Bunting reunited for the first time in camp.
Originally, it appeared as though the Leafs would be rolling with a second line that consisted of William Nylander, Denis Malgin and the aforementioned Tavares, but due to JT's injury, prospect and roster hopeful Pontus Holmberg is sliding up to play between Nylander and Malgin on the second line. Kyle Clifford and Joey Anderson appear to be saddled up next to exciting rookie Fraser Minten, while Joseph Blandisi and Wayne Simmonds will play alongside Semyon Der-Arguchintsev. Max Ellis appears to be the extra skater.
In terms of defensive pairings, Jamie Benn was skating alongside Morgan Rielly again on the team's top pair. Carl Dahlstrom was lined up with Victor Mete as the Leafs' second pair and Marshall Rifai and Mac Hollowell appear to be the club's third pair. Matt Hellickson and Tommy Miller skated as the extra defenders.
Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov were the two goalies skating with Group 1, naturally. We received confirmation on Monday that the team plans to alternate starts between Murray and Samsonov from here on out, with both Murray and Samsonov playing the full 60 minutes during the last 4 preseason games. Murray will likely get 40 mins tomorrow against the Habs.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 27 | 160 ANSWERS Leafs putting the Group 1 lines in a blender after Tavares injury Who will win the 2nd line LW spot in camp? | ||
| Denis Malgin | 57 | 35.6 % |
| Nicolas Aube-Kubel | 41 | 25.6 % |
| Nick Robertson | 51 | 31.9 % |
| Pierre Engvall | 11 | 6.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
