Sheldon Keefe blown away by the way one of his lines has been playing of late and it's not either of the top two lines
Following the March 3rd trade deadline, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe has found himself with an embarrassment of riches both up front and on the blueline with which to attempt to build his masterpiece. Not ever line and every pairing has been a success and Keefe has made it a point of constantly making roster adjustments, almost to a fault, in an attempt to find the best mix.
While he hasn't yet fully dialed in and set a solidified 4 lines and 3 pairings, we do know that at least one line seems to be set in stone - the line of Zach Aston-Reese, David Kampf and Sam Lafferty. Keefe raved about the trio's play following last night's 2-1 OT loss to the Bruins in Boston.
"Those guys have been excellent for a number of games now. They're playing hard. They're fast. They're strong defensively. They are scoring for us, as they did here tonight in a game in which it was extremely hard to generate any sort of offense either way. They have been great.
It's the pressure on the puck. It's playing smart. It's playing connected as a group of three. They are advancing the puck and putting pressure on the opponent. They're getting the puck to the net and getting rewarded for it.
When it is time to defend, they are great defenders. They've earned the confidence of the coach that when they are out there, they are going to either do good things or not allow anything bad to happen. They've really come together here over the last number of games. We can see that momentum continuing." - Sheldon Keefe on what has become arguably his most trusted line in all situations
It's the pressure on the puck. It's playing smart. It's playing connected as a group of three. They are advancing the puck and putting pressure on the opponent. They're getting the puck to the net and getting rewarded for it.
When it is time to defend, they are great defenders. They've earned the confidence of the coach that when they are out there, they are going to either do good things or not allow anything bad to happen. They've really come together here over the last number of games. We can see that momentum continuing." - Sheldon Keefe on what has become arguably his most trusted line in all situations
There's still a handful of games remaining with which Keefe can continue to make adjustments, but I'd imagine that what we saw last night in Boston will be pretty close to what the actual lineup might look like in 10 days when the postseason kicks off. Even if some additional changes do occur, I can't see the ZAR/Kampf/Lafferty line being impacted in any way. They've just been too strong together.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 7 | 277 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe blown away by the way one of his lines has been playing of late and it's not either of the top two lines Should the Leafs' 4th line of Zach Aston-Reese, David Kampf and Sam Lafferty remain together for the playoffs? | ||
| Yes | 265 | 95.7 % |
| No | 12 | 4.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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