On Monday, the Leafs ended the Jets' 8-game winning streak and took a shot at the Jets on social media. On the heels of a John Tavares hat trick and 3-point nights from Max Pacioretty and William Nylander on a newly created second line, the Leafs held on for the 6-4 win.
Returning to practice on Wednesday, Leafs head coach Craig Berube kept the new second line together. In fact, Berube appears set on running the same lineup Thursday against Seattle that he used on Monday, based on line rushes in practice.
To no surprise, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies remain together and there were no changes to the bottom six. Meanwhile, what appears to be the Leafs' new shutdown pairing in Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev also stayed together, with Morgan Rielly and OEL rounding out the top-4. Simon Benoit and Conor Timmins remain the 3rd pair, much to the dismay of Timothy Liljegren.
It appears as though Nicholas Robertson and Timothy Liljegren will be healthy scratched once again for the Leafs on Thursday. For Robertson, it will be his second straight scratch, while it will be the 10th time Liljegren will find himself in the press box this season. Despite playing in just one game so far, there is reportedly a lot of interest in Liljegren, who could quickly become the cap casualty when Jani Hakanpaa and Connor Dewar return.
In goal, it shouldn't come as a surprise to see Anthony Stolarz start after a couple days off, but that has yet to be confirmed by the team. With 3 games in 4 nights for the Leafs over the weekend however, Joseph Woll should get into at least one of the next three games as he looks to bounce back from an injury-plagued start to the season.
POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 30 | 1769 ANSWERS Leafs Reveal Projected Lineup for Thursday's Game Against the Kraken Are you surprised how often Liljegren is scratched? | ||
Yes | 548 | 31 % |
No | 950 | 53.7 % |
Protecting a tradable asset | 271 | 15.3 % |
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