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The Toronto Maple Leafs begin a five-game homestand against the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday after snapping a four-game losing streak in Chicago earlier in the week, but getting on the winning track did not prevent Sheldon Keefe from shaking up his lineup.
After another rough night for the struggling pair of Jake Muzzin and Justin Holl, the Leafs head coach will sit Holl and insert Timothy Liljegren, move Travis Dermott up to play with Morgan Rielly, shift TJ Brodie to play with Muzzin and pair Liljegren with fellow Swede Rasmus Sandin.
"(Holl) is the guy that is an important part of our team. We feel like taking a step back today made more sense, just to give him the day to kind of clear his head and get some work in versus just reducing his role and reducing his minutes." Keefe said. "We just thought 'let's shock the system here a little bit and get him some time', but we need to build him back up because he's an important player for us and he's played at a really high level. We've come to expect more from him, which is why we felt the need to take a step back here. As a result, we've moved things around a little bit. Part of that is his whole situation. Part of it is just trying to get a little bit of different chemistry."
Petr Mrà¡zek will make his blue pads debut tonight. pic.twitter.com/sdWTaDSxro
— David Alter (@dalter) October 30, 2021
Petr Mrazek will make his second start for Toronto after the veteran netminder missed more than two weeks with a groin injury in the club’s second game in Ottawa on October 14. The start will give Jack Campbell almost a week off after starting six of the Leafs first eight games, which was not the intention when the 29-year-old Czech was signed in the summer.
The Leafs fell victim to the waiver wire for the second time this month, as the Vegas Golden Knights claimed forward Michael Amadio on Saturday. The 25-year-old played the first three games for Toronto after beating out Adam Brooks for the final roster spot, but has been scratched the last five games.
Josh Ho-Sang scores his second of the night.
— Nick Barden (@nickbarden) October 30, 2021
Alex Steeves gets his first AHL point.#Marlies lead 4-2. pic.twitter.com/Qzye0Op8je
Toronto currently has 12 forwards on their NHL roster, but with the club at home for the next nine days, GM Kyle Dubas can save cap space and call up a forward if necessary. With Nick Robertson out until New Year’s with a broken leg, KHL import Kirill Semyonov (who is leading the AHL Marlies with five points in six games after a strong training camp), Joey Anderson (who has three goals) or Alex Steeves (just returned from the injured list this week) could be the next call up if the Leafs need to add another forward.
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Lot’s of â¤ï¸ for the 💙ðŸ¤
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) April 26, 2021
Convo on Podcast.#theleafsconvo https://t.co/Xdn3CDLVCI
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