maple leafs

Being prudent as the playoffs approach; Leafs vs. Senators

Apr 16, 2022 • 3:46 pm

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You could say that the Toronto Maple Leafs are peaking at the right time with less than two weeks to go until the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but will that mean anything when things become real. The Leafs take on the Ottawa Senators in the first of back-to-back games in Kanata, ON on Saturday, but other than securing home ice advantage in the final eight games, it is likely that the Blue and White are looking forward to what they will face in the beginning of May.

Toronto will be without defenseman Jake Muzzin on Saturday and for the game on Easter Sunday against the NY Islanders, as an undisclosed injury flared up after a 7-3 win over Washington on Thursday. …(Jake) missed a little bit of time earlier and was feeling good and played yesterday and I would say things flared up a little bit for him,… Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said following the team’s practice on Friday. “As a result he’s going to take some time here to just settle down a little bit and see how it responds from there.…

Keefe indicated that the injury has nothing to do with concussions issues that have plagued the veteran blueliner twice this season and that the hope is that the issue will “settle down… over the near future.

The Leafs will insert Justin Holl into the lineup and have recalled Kristians Rubins on an emergency basis, but all indications are that the club is just being careful with something nagging in advance of what they hope could be a long playoff run.

Erik Kallgren (5-3-1, 2.93 GAA, .899 save %) will make the start against the Sens, with Jack Campbell going at home on Sunday, where he has a 16-5-1 record, 2.34 GAA and .920 save %. It does appear that the Leafs plan is to give Kallgren a healthy workload down the stretch with his lack of NHL experience, while not overexerting Campbell prior to him likely playing every other night in the post-season.

It is already apparent that Keefe is rotating veterans on the fourth line to keep them fresh and engaged, but it is possible that Keefe will give a night off here or there to veterans like Tavares, TJ Brodie, and Morgan Rielly depending on how close the race for second place gets.

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