2023-05-07 16:45:24
SUNRISE – The Toronto Maple Leafs could call on a roster of 11 forwards and seven defensemen in an attempt to return to the series against the Florida Panthers on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, CBC, SN, TBS).
Coach Sheldon Keefe wouldn’t say if he’ll include the defender in the roster Erik Gustafsson, a few hours before the third clash at the FLA Live Arena. Gustafsson took part in power play rehearsals in practice on Saturday. Another possibility is to reinstate the attacker Zach Aston-Reesewhich was dropped on Thursday.
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It’s that the Maple Leafs will miss the services of the rookie forward Matthew Knies. The 20-year-old American suffered a concussion in the first period of Game 2 at Scotiabank Arena, after being knocked down on the ice by the Panthers forward Sam Bennett.
Keefe has already indicated that Knies is unavailable for both games in Florida, even mentioning that he could miss the rest of the series.
The Maple Leafs will be on the run, down 2-0 in the second-round series.
“We absolutely need the victory. We will have to give our best performance of the season,” said forward Alex Kerfoot on Sunday morning.
The good news for the Maple Leafs is that they are comfortable on the road in the playoffs this spring. They won all three games played at Amalie Arena against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.
This is also the trend this year: teams playing abroad clearly have the best. They have already tied last year’s winning total in 89 games, going 35-23 after just 58 games.
Another positive aspect is that the Maple Leafs put on two good performances at home, despite the losses. The series could easily be tied 1-1, were it not for the panthers goalie’s brilliance Sergei Bobrovsky in the second game.
Maple Leafs stars, Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner, John Tavares et William Nylander, still haven’t managed a goal in the series, but it’s not for lack of not trying. Nylander (13), Matthews (12) and Tavares (10) total 35 shots! Sooner or later, it will eventually come back for them.
At the Panthers, who took advantage of the two-day break to replenish their energy, coach Paul Maurice said he should bet on the same formation as in the first two games.
Maple Leafs planned roster
Alexander Kerfoot — Auston Matthews — William Nylander
Jarnkrok Street — John Tavares — Mitchell Marner
Michael Bunting — Ryan O’Reilly — Noel Acciari
David fight — Sam Lafferty
Jake McCabe — TJ Brodie
Mark Giordano — Timothy Liljegren
Morgan Rielly — Luke Schenn
Erik Gustafsson
Ilya Samsonov
Joseph Woll
Entrenched: Conor Timmins, Wayne SimmondsZach Aston-Reese, Justin Holl
Wounded: Matthew Knies (concussion), Jake Muzzin (cou), Victor Mete (upper body), Nicholas Robertson (shoulder), Carl Dahlstrom (shoulder), Matt Murray (head)
Planned formation of the Panthers
Carter Verhaeghe — Alexander Barkov — Anthony Duclair
Nick Cousins — Sam Bennett — Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen — Anton Lundell — Sam Reinhart
Zac Dalpe — Eric Steel — Colin White
Gustav Forsling — Aaron Oakleaf
Mark Steel — Brandon Montour
Josh Mahura — Radko Gud
Sergei Bobrovsky
Alex Lyon
Entrenched: Givani Smith, Mike Benning, Casey Fitzgerald, Evan Fitzpatrick, Lucas Carlsson
Wounded: Patric Hornqvist (concussion), Ryan Lomberg (upper body)
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