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With the 2-1 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues to wrap up their six-game homestand on Tuesday, Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock came under an increased level of criticism for playing certain players too much, not switching up line combinations that have grown stagnant and implementing a system that seems to be going counter to the club’s strengths.
“I think they hired me to decide (the lineup), that’s how I approach it.… Babcock said after practice on Wednesday. “I’m just going to keep on keeping on.…
With the club at .500 since December 1 and not registering a regulation win in eight games, the Leafs take to the road to face the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.
After signs that the Leafs would tinker with their lineup and re-insert Dominic Moore on the fourth line at the MasterCard Centre, the veteran center took part in the optional skate on Thursday, which likely means that rookie Frederik Gauthier will make his seventh consecutive start.
Gauthier has not made much of an impact since being called up from the American Hockey League earlier this month. He replaced Moore on the penalty-killing unit and has put up comparable faceoff winning percentage numbers (55.9% to 54.3%), but has no points in six games averaging just over eight minutes per game, while the 37-year-old managed nine points in 31 games averaging 10:55 per game.
“I want to do my job the way I can and help the team, that’s why I was excited to join this group,… Moore said to the Toronto Sun’s Lance Hornby. “If you can play, you can play and I feel great. To me that’s not a factor at all. You don’t think about age in any respect.…
It is known that Toronto management believes in Gauthier and thinks that his hockey IQ will make him an NHL regular.
Babcock has always preferred players with size and with the 22-year-old under control for multiple years, it may be only a matter of time before “The Goat… is with the Leafs full time, but with the club struggling to score goals, you have to wonder how long they can afford to play him regularly when a more experienced and better two-way option is available.
The Leafs will go with the same lineup as played on Tuesday, with rookie Travis Dermott getting his first taste of playing in the NHL on the road.
Frederik Andersen will make his eighth straight start after a brilliant 40-save outing against the Blues, while Philadelphia will go with backup Michal Neuvirth in goal. Neuvirth had gone six weeks without a start before a win against Buffalo on January 7, and has a 2.39 GAA and .923 save percentage in nine starts.
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The Flyers will be honoring former Leaf Eric Lindros in a pre-game ceremony to retire and raise the Hockey Hall-of-Famer’s #88 to the rafters, which will delay the start of the game until just after 8pm EST.
They’re getting ready for Eric Lindros night at Wells Fargo Center. pic.twitter.com/BHr3ap2P4A
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) January 18, 2018
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