For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter
The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to continue their winning ways as they open a three-game homestand against the Nashville Predators at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday. The Leafs have won eight of their last nine games, but have not played the type of consistent hockey that head coach Sheldon Keefe has been looking for. Keefe has been juggling his line combinations from the start of the season, through the four-game losing skid last month and throughout their stretch of success in November, and will continue to do that on Tuesday, as Toronto will reunite the top line unit of Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and Nick Ritchie, and John Tavares, William Nylander with Alex Kerfoot.
"The four guys on those lines (Matthews, Marner), John and William as well, when we changed it up, it was to get their games going, to change the chemistry of the time." Keefe said. "(We) feel like their games are going indivdually, that's a huge part of why our power play has produced the way that it has. But when I look at it, we're going well as a team, we've won a lot of games, with a lot of good things happen with our team, but our production has dropped off at five-on-five particularly with those guys in the last five or six games."
Wayne Simmonds will return to the fourth line with Jason Spezza and Michael Bunting after sitting against Buffalo, and Ondrej Kase will return to the checking line alongside Pierre Engvall and David Kampf, and Wayne Simmonds. The only other lineup change will be on the bottom pairing, as Rasmus Sandin will skate with Travis Dermott and Timothy Liljegren will sit.
Jack Campbell will start against the Preds after Joseph Woll’s victorious debut on Saturday, but with another back-to-back slated for the weekend, Keefe is keeping his options open regarding either Michael Hutchinson or Erik Kallgren, who won their last starts for the Marlies last weekend.
Unlike a relatively easy start against the Sabres, the second of back-to-back games this weekend will be at the new UBS Arena against the New York Islanders on Sunday.
********
Former Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf announced his retirement on Tuesday in an interview with Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun . The 36-year-old blueliner has not played since the end of the 2019 season with Los Angeles, but finished with 1048 games played (428 with Toronto).
In the interview, Phaneuf reflected on the highs and lows of his 14-year NHL career, including the seven-game loss to the Bruins in 2013 and the infamous Salute-gate debacle during the 2014-15 season.
While Phaneuf’s tenure in Toronto was disappointing in terms of the team’s success, but his impact as a leader was something that Morgan Rielly appreciates to this day.
"(Dion) was a guy (that) I looked up to and still do today," Rielly said. "The way he carried himself, how he treated people ... trainers, staff, his teammates, it was something I wanted to learn from."
********
Lot’s of â¤ï¸ for the 💙ðŸ¤
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) April 26, 2021
Convo on Podcast.#theleafsconvo https://t.co/Xdn3CDLVCI
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******