Sheldon Keefe may have something interesting up his sleeve for Florida in Game 2 tonight
Yesterday during practice, Sheldon Keefe did not hint at any line changes for Game 2, which takes place tonight. He was also coy about whether the Leafs would go to the 11F and 7D setup that helped them knock off Tampa.
Today during his media availability, it sounded like Keefe was leaning towards returning to an 11F and 7D lineup for a very interesting reason. "We were trying to find rhythm last series & never quite did. Like you saw us through some of the regular season, maybe we're better off with less consistency and more flow... being less predictable and having the players just go out and play."
Essentially, Keefe is saying that he doesn't want to focus on line matching and would much rather give his stars the opportunity to play more minutes without having to shuffle someone out of a shift or two. Additionally, it would give him the option to shelter Mark Giordano's minutes a bit more given how much he struggled with the speed of the Panthers in Game 1.
One thing we do know is that Ilya Samsonov will once again be between the pipes, looking to rebound from the Game 1 loss, as he and the Leafs look to split the first two games of this series - much like they did with Tampa in the 1st Round.
| POLL | ||
MAI 4 | 114 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe may have something interesting up his sleeve for Florida in Game 2 tonight How many goals will Auston Matthews finish the Leafs/Panthers series with? | ||
| 0-1 | 6 | 5.3 % |
| 2-3 | 40 | 35.1 % |
| 4-5 | 46 | 40.4 % |
| 6 or more | 22 | 19.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
