Too much 11/7 talk, not enough 7/11 talk
Buffalo Sabres @ Toronto Maple Leafs
07:30 PM at Scotiabank Arena
Watch on: TVAS, SNO, SNW, SNP, MSG-B
While I do like a good “Illya” for an under the weather Samsonov, as well as three defensemen on one pair, here’s an updated look at the lines.
Alex Kerfoot – Auston Matthews – Mitch Marner
Michael Bunting – John Tavares – William Nylander
Sam Lafferty – Calle Järnkrok
Zach Aston-Reese – David Kämpf – Noel Acciari
Morgan Rielly – TJ Brodie
Mark Giordano – Timothy Liljegren
Jake McCabe – Justin Holl
Erik Gustafsson
Matt Murray – confirmed starter
Ilya Samsonov
Alex Kerfoot is on the first line because he’s better than Michael Bunting (hopefully only for now). He’s a good, skillful, useful player and at some point some of y’all need to accept that. Sure, he’d be better on the third line, but that’s Bunting’s fault. And to a lesser extent Dubas’ fault for missing out on that one last trade that probably fell through. Oh well, we move on.
My only thought on Gustafsson is that he’s pretty decent, and the Leafs are trying to keep him in the loop, but he won’t be necessary once the playoffs get started. Either that’ll mean a return to 12/6, or Schenn/Liljegren as the 7th defenseman.
Being an offensive defenseman is not always easy because your worth on the boxscore is almost entirely dependent on your team’s shooting percentage. For further data see Rielly, Morgan. Also Sandin, Rasmus in Washington right now. Love how things are working out for him right now, but 20% shooting and 97% (!) goaltending is pretty steep.
GO LEAFS GO!!!
Especially Jake McCabe who is playing his old team! MOTB