The last thing anyone wants to hear about the Leafs and the playoffs is that there are lessons to be learned. Learning lessons and handshake line respect won’t cut it this season but nevertheless, if the Leafs are going to improve throughout the series they will need to learn their lessons even if no one wants to hear the Leafs talk about them. It’s in that spirit we’re going with a +/- look at the Leafs in the previous game. What went right that they should be doing more of and naturally, what went wrong? I’m going to challenge myself to balance the pluses with the minuses despite the outcome.
On the blueline the limited usage/success of Edmundson and Lyubushkin likely points to T.J. Brodie coming in for Game 2. Edmundson, Benoit, and Rielly were all on for 2 goals against (Rielly was on for the empty netter), and given that Edmundson wasn’t effective on the penalty kill and the extra icetime he had over Lyubushkin coming from that difference, I’d say he’s the better choice for sitting, especially since Brodie will likely absorb that responsibility and bring his shot blocking expertise to the role.
Every Leaf had a hit last night except for Joel Edmundson. (Simon Benoit led the way with 8). Considering that Joel Edmundson was brought in to be the 6’5 deterrent and he has 184 hits in his previous 82 playoff games, the Leafs don’t look to be getting the player they signed up for.
Well…I think there is a strong case to be made for T.J. Brodie coming in, especially for Edmundson.
While Holmberg and Knies overall looked decent, the goals against with them on the ice might point to Kampf and Dewar seeing time with Jarnkrok instead and functioning as the third line with Knies-Holmberg-Robertson being a sheltered scoring fourth line or parts that can take shifts in the top nine as needed.
If Nylander is able to go for Game 2, I’d say that sitting Ryan Reaves looks like the most beneficial swap for Toronto and that might involve some reworking of what I suggested above to optimize the lineup to increase Toronto’s scoring opportunities. Nylander’s puck carrying was sorely missed.
The Maple Leafs get their opportunity to right their wrongs and return to Toronto with a split on Monday night at an Ontario friendly puck drop time of 7pm ET.
Stats from NHL.com and Natural Stat Trick
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