Sheldon Keefe has a very easy decision to make involving one of his defensemen ahead of Tuesday's game against the Islanders
Last night's game in Ottawa saw the Leafs steer away from the unorthodox 11F/7D lineup and revert to a more traditional setup, icing 12 forwards and 6 defensemen. After throttling the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday though, the Leafs put up a bit of a stinker against the Ottawa Senators last night, narrowly escaping with the win after blowing a 2-goal lead in the third period and skating away with a 5-4 shootout win.
Much to the surprise of many in Leafs Nation, Keefe opted to give veteran blueliner and the league's all-time leader for shot blocks, Mark Giordano, a rest on a back-to-back. Giordano is an absolute workhorse and never complains about the schedule, the assignment or anything else of that nature. As a matter of fact, he's one of the few Leafs who had played every game up to that point and a guy who hasn't missed a practice all season. Keefe did this to allow Justin Holl an opportunity to draw back in, instead of pulling youngster Timothy Liljegren back out of the lineup to spend another few games in the press box.
Each of Morgan Rielly, Timothy Liljegren and Jake McCabe finished the game as plus players on the plus/minus scale. Schenn finished at an even 0. Brodie had an uncharacteristically poor game, going -2 on the night. I'd imagine that some of that poor luck was due to being paired with Justin Holl for a good stretch of the game, as Holl was also a -2 on the night.
For Sheldon Keefe, ahead of the Leafs' next game against the New York Islanders on Tuesday, the decision should be a simple one. Holl should come back out of the lineup in favour of Giordano. If they want to roll 11F/7D once again to get Gustafsson back into the lineup, that's certainly an option as well, but with Justin Holl not playing his best hockey of late, it's the wrong time of the year to continue to roll a struggling defenseman - especially with Tampa breathing down the Leafs' necks, just 3 points back with home ice in round 1 on the line.
