Sheldon Keefe reveals only one lineup change for the Leafs' home opener
The Leafs appeared anything but ready to go for Wednesday's season opener in Montreal, choking away two leads against an inferior opponent and dropping a 4-3 decision in regulation on a Josh Anderson goal in the final 20 seconds of the third period. Now, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe has stated that the team will go into Thursday's home opener against the Capitals with no changes, other than one in goal.
The Leafs, as was previously announced, are going with Ilya Samsonov against his former team on Thursday. It'll be a good opportunity for some retribution for Samsonov, who was drafted by the Caps in the first round back in 2015 to be the heir apparent to Braden Holtby's net. It didn't quite work out that way and the Caps left Samsonov without a qualifying offer this summer, allowing him to sign a 1-year deal with the Leafs for $1.8M as a UFA.
I'm sure that after last night's embarrassing loss, if Keefe and company had any flexibility whatsoever, they'd have made a couple of tweaks to tonight's roster. However, with the team having no cap space and a roster of just 20 players, the Buds will have to run it back with the same group. Whether or not in-game adjustments will be made will be determined by the play of the bodies on the ice. Here's what yesterday's line looked like up front:
Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Nylander - Tavares - Malgin
Engvall - Kerfoot - Jarnrkok
Aston-Reese - Kampf - Aube-Kubel
The defensive pairings could use a bit of a shake-up after yesterday's embarrassing loss - particularly the Muzzin-Holl pairing. It will be interesting to see if the Leafs switch it up.
Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Holl
Giordano - Sandin
And, as we pointed out, the only change is taking place in goal:
Samsonov/Murray
The Buds need a win tonight and they need it to be a convincing one. Losing on opening night in enemy territory is one thing. Dropping your home opener and going down 0-2-0 to start an all-important season is another thing entirely.
| POLL | ||
13 OCTOBRE | 344 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe reveals only one lineup change for the Leafs' home opener Who should Jake Muzzin play with moving forward? | ||
| Holl, they're fine together. | 51 | 14.8 % |
| Brodie | 88 | 25.6 % |
| Sandin | 110 | 32 % |
| Other | 95 | 27.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
