Maple Leafs Make Surprising Lineup Decisions Regarding Pacioretty, Liljegren
Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube made some surprising lineup decisions at practice on Friday involving Max Pacioretty and Timothy Liljegren.
Wednesday night, we saw Timothy Liljegren make his season debut with 14 scouts taking in the game at Scotiabank Arena. Liljegren played 13:55 and registered 2 blocks to go along with one minor penalty. The Swedish defenseman wasn't outstanding, but didn't do anything to warrant coming out of the lineup either.
While Liljegren returned to the lineup, Nylander's unexpected return to the lineup on Wednesday led to Pacioretty being a late healthy scratch, just a day after taking reps with the team's top power play unit.
After an optional skate on Thursday, the Leafs took to the ice for a full practice on Friday where it was revealed through line combinations that Pacioretty would be a scratch for a second straight game as Berube is using the same forward group from Wednesday.
On the blueline, Liljegren finds himself in the doghouse again as he was demoted to the fourth pair at practice and skated next to Philippe Myers. In his place, it appears that Conor Timmins will draw back into the lineup as he skated with Simon Benoit.
Given that Berube seemed fairly pleased with his season debut following the game Wednesday it does come as a bit of a surprise Liljegren is set to be out of the lineup Saturday.
With the Leafs playing five games over the next eight days and a back-to-back on Monday and Tuesday, it will be interesting to see if and when Liljegren draws back in over that stretch. Given all the trade speculation, it will be something to keep an eye on as the Leafs get healthier *knock on wood* and other teams continue to battle injuries on the blueline.
