Sheldon Keefe tweaks his lineup for Game 7
With Game 7 set to be played tonight at Scotiabank Arena, the Leafs face a very difficult challenge, and one we all hope they're up to. Winning at home in a Game 7 to punch their ticket to round two.
The Leafs appear to be going with the same group as Games 5 and 6, albeit with a couple of tweaks, namely William Nylander moving down to line 3 with Ilya Mikheyev moving up to line 2. This means two Leaf tough guys, Kyle Clifford and Wayne Simmonds, will sit and watch from the press box once again.
For Simmonds, he has not played since game two. After a couple of costly, ill-advised penalties by Simmonds, Leafs Head Coach Sheldon Keefe has seemingly decided he can not trust the 33-year-old in big game situations. As for Clifford, he has not played since receiving a major penalty early in game one.
This also means Leaf rookie defensemen Timothy Liljegren will sit for a fifth consecutive game in favour of Justin Holl. Keefe felt Liljegren struggled to move pucks efficiently out of his zone and lost too many defensive battles early in the series. Holl has played well in his last two outings.
As for the lines, do not be surprised if the Leafs mix and match throughout the game if something is not working early. Keefe has shown in the past a willingness to change lines when he does not like what he sees. Also do not be surprised if William Nylander is moved up and down the lineup as needed to get him more ice time, especially in key offensive moments.
Finally, I would expect that star forwards Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner see a lot of ice tonight. In Game 6, the two played the most of any forwards in the game, playing over 28 minutes in what was a 78-minute game due to the overtime.
Ideally, the Leafs can get up by a few and keep it that way, allowing them to rest certain guys a little more for round 2. We'll see what happens tonight, but given what a back and forth battle this series has been, it wouldn't surprise me in the least to see another close one that's decided in the third period or OT.
| POLL | ||
14 MAI | 549 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe tweaks his lineup for Game 7 Which forward do you expect to play the most tonight? | ||
| Auston Matthews | 378 | 68.9 % |
| Mitch Marner | 115 | 20.9 % |
| Nikita Kucherov | 31 | 5.6 % |
| Steven Stamkos | 25 | 4.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
