Nylander demoted; Keefe reveals Game 5 lines at practice
At practice this morning the Leafs got right into line rushes and Keefe revealed the likely lineup for tonight's Game 5. After a mishmash of lines in Game 4, and half of Game 3, Keefe has returned to some familiar lines that have worked in the past.
Bunting-Matthews-Marner
Mikheyev-Tavares-Kerfoot
Nylander-Kampf-Engvall
Spezza-Blackwell-Kase
Bunting has returned alongside Marner and Matthews, while Tavares has some new wingers in the hopes that he finally begins to contribute. After his terrible show of forechecking in Game 4, even though he scored 2 goals, Nylander has been moved down to the third line with Engvall and Kampf. That line has been surprisingly good in the past and with the bigger bodies of Kampf and Engvall with him, maybe Nylander will be less hesitant going into the corners tonight.
Keefe has opted to go with a more skilled fourth line again as Clifford and Simmonds were skating as extras at practice. The fourth line will consist of Blackwell, Spezza and Kase. After games 3 and 4 were horrible for the Leafs fourth line, we can only hope this one provides better minutes tonight.
On the back end, Justin Holl remains in the lineup for his penalty kill expertise, which is concerning because his 5-on-5 play has been borderline horrible. The Leafs would be better off running 11 forwards and 7 defensemen to shelter Holl from the 5-on-5 play where he is constantly exposed. If these lines make it through the entire game it would be surprising but at some point Keefe has to consider putting Marner with Tavares given that he seems to be the only one that can get Tavares going.
| POLL | ||
MAI 10 | 448 ANSWERS Nylander demoted; Keefe reveals Game 5 lines at practice Will we see Kyle Clifford or Wayne Simmonds in Game 6 if the Leafs come up short in Game 5? | ||
| Yes | 269 | 60 % |
| No | 179 | 40 % |
| List of polls | ||
