Sheldon Keefe makes some major roster changes following beatdown in Buffalo
After a 9-3, I'm sure everyone knew that there were some major changes coming to the Leafs' lineup. Ilya Samsonov was torched for 5 goals on 19 shots last night, while Martin Jones didn't fair much better, giving up 4 in relief. What was likely supposed to be a day off today turned into a full practice for the Leafs, and head coach Sheldon Keefe decided to make a number of changes to his lineup, as expected.
Up front, he has reunited Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews on the top line, which means that William Nylander will once again be skating with John Tavares and Tyler Bertuzzi. Leafs' 2nd line has been among the best in the league for expected goals for percentage this season, so it made sense to reunite them after such a disastrous outing on Thursday.
On the blueline, T.J. Brodie reunited with Morgan Rielly after one game apart, forcing Timothy Liljegren down to the 2nd pair, alongside Jake McCabe. Not only was McCabe paired with Liljegren, but he was also moved back to his natural left side after spending significant time in the right side while the Leafs have been banged up.
In addition to swapping the top two pairings, Keefe also had William Lagesson skate next to Simon Benoit instead of Conor Timmins, leading us to believe that Timmins will be a scratch for tomorrow's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Rightfully so, as Timmins has been less than great over the last few games.
One further note from practice was that Pontus Holmberg, who was recalled last week, skated on the third line with Max Domi and Nicholas Robertson as Calle Jarnkrok was absent. The Leafs did not provide an update on Jarnkrok following practice, so it is unknown whether it was a maintenance day or that there may be an injury, which could potentially sideline him for tomorrow's game.
Hopefully the team can right a lot of the wrongs that we saw last night in Buffalo. As we have seen in the past, a rough outing is often followed by a strong rebound performance. Let's hope that the Leafs show up on time and play a full 60 minutes on Saturday in Columbus, because the way last night's game went in Buffalo, they might have been better off just to forfeit the game and take some extra rest instead of taking the night off and allowing the Sabres to hang 9 on their goaltenders.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 22 | 1166 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe makes some major roster changes following beatdown in Buffalo Do you think Matthews and Marner will stick on a line together for the remainder of the season? | ||
| Yes | 629 | 53.9 % |
| No | 537 | 46.1 % |
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