Leafs rolling with two new power play units at practice on Sunday; Nylander finds himself bumped from the top unit
The post-season has finally arrived and the Toronto Maple Leafs are set to drop the puck on home ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night. All the focus over the past few weeks was on this divisional playoff matchup, being ready and equipped to take down the 3-time Eastern Conference champions, and having the right recipe on and off the ice.
At practice earlier today we saw some line combinations for the playoffs with Michael Bunting at the top with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Ryan O'Reilly was in the middle between John Tavares and William Nylander. Alex Kerfoot, Noel Acciari, and Calle Jarnkrok rounded out the top-9 and Zach Aston-Reese was paired with David Kampf and Sam Lafferty on the 4th line. Wayne Simmonds and Matthew Knies were the extras.
As far as the power play goes, though - there were some substantial changes at practice, which saw William Nylander bumped off of the top power play unit in favour of adding Ryan O'Reilly to that 1st unit.
On the power play the Sheldon Keefe was running the following lines during rushes at practice today:
PP1: Auston Matthews, Ryan O'Reilly, Mitch Marner, John Tavares, and Morgan Rielly
PP2: William Nylander, Alex Kerfoot, Calle Jarnkrok, Michael Bunting, and Mark Giordano.
It's going to be a true battle of giants with the Leafs possessing the 2nd best power play in the NHL, one that clicked at 26% success rate, while the Lightning possessed the 3rd best unit that clicked at 25.4%. On the flip side, the Leafs were 11th on the penalty kill with a success rate of 81.9%, while the Lightning were mid-table at 15th with a 79.7% success rate. Special teams will be a factor in the result of this series, without a doubt.
The Leafs have loaded their top unit - as they have all season - as John Tavares paced the club with 18 power play goals, followed by Auston Matthews' 13, and Mitch Marner's 9. Marner also led the team with 27 power play assists with Tavares right behind him at 21. Rielly is 4th with 16 power play assists and Matthews right behind him at 5th with 15, so it's safe to say the top unit will be handling the bulk of the man advantages and for good reason.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 16 | 741 ANSWERS Leafs rolling with two new power play units at practice on Sunday; Nylander finds himself bumped from the top unit Is removing Willy Nylander from the top PP unit a mistake by Sheldon Keefe? | ||
| Yes | 294 | 39.7 % |
| No | 244 | 32.9 % |
| Spreading out the talent is a good idea | 203 | 27.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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