Sheldon Keefe reveals reason for scratching Conor Timmins after his big outing in Chicago
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Ahead of tomorrow's divisional tilt against the Montreal Canadiens, the Toronto Maple Leafs tweaked a few of their lines at practice, none more surprising than Justin Holl being re-inserted for Conor Timmins. Holl was scratched before their game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night after Sheldon Keefe was quoted as saying "at times, he's been tremendous... at times, it's also slipped, and the other night was one of those nights."
Timmins was somewhat of a revelation this season for a Maple Leafs team that suffered a myriad of injuries on their backend. After being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes, Timmins appeared in 18 games, scoring 1 goal and adding 11 assists, before being reinserted into the lineup almost 2 weeks later against the Blackhawks, where he chipped in with a goal and ended the night +3.
Sheldon Keefe told reporters that Timmins was coming out of the lineup again because he wasn't happy with the two minor penalties he was called for. He also had this to say:
"I didn't intend on having Justin out for too long, first of all. Like I said the other day, his game had slipped a little bit, but he's played a lot of really good hockey... On his worst day, he's a top penalty killer for us."
-Keefe on Holl coming back in for Timmins
-Keefe on Holl coming back in for Timmins
On the season, Holl has 2 goals and 11 points in 54 games, has averaged a near-career-high 21:03 TOI and was a key contributor on the backend when players like Morgan Rielly, T.J. Brodie, and Jake Muzzin were absent. He was playing top-pair minutes in between November and December, averaging almost 22 and a half minutes a game.
Holl's game has slipped a little since the calendar flipped to January and he was also a minus 3 in their very disappointing loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday. Keefe reiterated that he didn't plan on keeping Holl out of the lineup for too long, he just wanted to keep things consistent as he claims he has all season.
It's unfortunate for Timmins who is now fighting for his spot on the big club and after a strong showing offensively against the Blackhawks, he won't be able to showcase his intangibles against the Montreal Canadiens due to his lack of discipline, according to Keefe.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 17 | 386 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe reveals reason for scratching Conor Timmins after his big outing in Chicago Is Sheldon Keefe making a mistake by scratching Conor Timmins? | ||
| Yes | 320 | 82.9 % |
| No | 66 | 17.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
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