Sheldon Keefe appears to be prepping for some different line combinations in Game 2
The Leafs kept their practice on Wednesday very short and very business-like. It was only 20 minutes and there was no music being played as the Leafs look to rebound from an ugly 7-3 loss to Tampa in Game 1 on Tuesday. With Michael Bunting likely facing a suspension for his hit on Erik Cernak, Sheldon Keefe shuffled his forward group up a bit at Wednesday's practice in preparation.
Up front, Calle Jarnkrok was reunited with Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews while Ryan O'Reilly dropped down to center a third line featuring Matthew Knies. That means that Alexander Kerfoot will move to the second line alongside John Tavares and William Nylander and the fourth line remains the same.
After getting some much needed practice time with the Leafs, all signs are pointing to Knies making his playoff debut for the Leafs. Most fans would probably like to see him in the top-six, but Keefe is doing the right thing in this instance in playing him on the third line and having him sheltered by O'Reilly defensively and sitting him next to a guy with a lot of experience to learn from.
On the back end, all of the pairings remained the same and no one appears to have lost their spot after a terrible Game 1 defensively - looking at you Justin Holl. Even though he was on the ice for 6 of the 7 goals against, Holl remained paired with Mark Giordano on Wednesday, although many believe that Timothy Liljegren deserves to play.
Keefe was very non-committal about announcing any changes, but if Wednesday's practice lines were any indicator, we could see a few. He did, however, mention that going with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen was a possibility, so we may yet see Liljegren or Gustafsson get some playing time on Thursday.
With a Michael Bunting suspension, we know that we're going to have at least one lineup change, but we'll have more clarity following Thursday's morning skate.
