The Leafs will see a vastly different lineup tonight in Carolina from what they used yesterday night.
TJ Brodie returns to the fray after being a healthy scratch for the last two games, stemming from the fact he has had a rough season to this point where he has been a net negative on every pairing he has been assigned to. Sheldon Keefe was asked by reporters what he and the staff are expecting out of the 34-year-old defender and they want him to “Just go out and play.”
Tyler Bertuzzi and Ilya Lyubushkin have both missed games this week due to suffering from a flu bug that has once again wreaked havoc on the team. Bertuzzi was unavailable for last night’s game but nearly was a healthy scratch on Wednesday against the Capitals because of this illness but opted to play and missed the first 10 minutes as a result. By contrast, Lyubushkin has yet to play this week and was most recently in the lineup last Saturday when the Leafs had their St. Pats game against the Hurricanes.
No word was immediately given on who would be sitting in the press box to make room for the three incoming players, but all signs point to Simon Benoit, Conor Timmins, and Ryan Reaves sitting out for tonight’s game. Morgan Rielly and Jake McCabe are not sitting out unless they are banged up, Joel Edmundson had a solid game and is still getting acclimated to the system, while Timothy Liljegren is starting to get into a rhythm and needs to remain in. The rest of the forward core played well against the Oilers so it makes sense why they could rest Reaves, who has already been healthy scratched in one-half of previous back-to-back games this season.
Situations like this one are precisely why the Leafs have so many defencemen on the active roster because Brad Treliving is trying to instil a system where the team has tons of depth that can rotate in and out of games without diminishing the overall quality of the lineup. They may not be the big-name blueliners that fans had hoped for but they help solidify the overall pipeline that can help withstand a potential playoff run.
In terms of goalies, Joseph Woll is going to get the nod for this one while Martin Jones will be used as the backup. This comes after Ilya Samsonov left Saturday’s game early while sliding across to try and make a save. Keefe did say after that game the Russian netminder was fine but not dressing him for tonight’s contest is certainly the right call.
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