Injury to key defenseman puts the Leafs at a distinct disadvantage tonight against Vegas
There were a handful of notable additions and subtractions at practice yesterday for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Mark Giordano and Calle Jarnkrok returned to the ice while Timothy Liljegren was absent and Martin Jones worked away from the group on a separate pad.
Jarnkrok did not take part in line rushes and will be unavailable tonight, but Giordano will return to the lineup in place of Liljegren, wh9 is now confirmed out with an unspecified injury. Keefe explained that Liljegren was 'banged up' Saturday during the Leafs' 4-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche and is currently day-to-day.
Liljegren has seen his minutes and usage increased since Morgan Rielly's suspension, playing over 20 minutes most nights, which is an increase over his 19:30 average this season. Over his last five games, he has five points and looked very comfortable next to T.J. Brodie. In his absence, Keefe has shuffled his defense pairings with Simon Benoit skating with Morgan Rielly and Brodie shifting down to play alongside Jake McCabe, while Giordano will return and play with William Lagesson.
If you're noticing a common trend among the abovementioned names, you're pretty observant. Each name listed on the blueline for tonight's game is a left shot, meaning that the Leafs will play tonight's game with no right shots on the roster. It is because of situations like this that highlight the need for another right shot defenseman in Toronto.
As of right now, it is unknown whether or not Liljegren will miss any more games given his day-to-day status, but we should have more clarity on the severity of his injury in the coming days.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 27 | 444 ANSWERS Injury to key defenseman puts the Leafs at a distinct disadvantage tonight against Vegas How concerned are you with Liljegren's injury on a scale of 1-10? | ||
| 1-3 | 158 | 35.6 % |
| 4-7 | 215 | 48.4 % |
| 8-10 | 71 | 16 % |
| List of polls | ||
