It appears that Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube is sticking to one of his key in-game adjustments from Sunday’s contest against the Buffalo Sabres, as the team prepares for Wednesday’s game against the Dallas Stars.
William Nylander, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner form Toronto’s new first line, a combination that Berube used during the 5-3 win against the Sabres on Sunday. Matthew Knies joined John Tavares and Max Pacioretty on a unit that boasts tremendous size and all three players can force their way to the net-front, for a Maple Leafs team that is looking to generate meaningful 5-on-5 offence.
Toronto’s power play units remain intact, with Morgan Rielly getting work in alongside Matthews, Nylander, Marner and Tavares on the first unit Friday. Nick Robertson, Max Pacioretty, Max Domi, Matthew Knies and Oliver Ekman-Larsson formed the second unit.
Nylander-Matthews-Marner played 32:34 together at 5-on-5 last season, and were outscored 3-1, while generating under 46 percent of the expected goals via Natural Stat Trick, but the idea of placing Toronto’s three most potent forwards together could supercharge the lineup.
Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving revealed that Anthony Stolarz will miss 4-6 weeks with a knee injury. Stolarz will undergo a procedure to remove a ‘loose body’ which resembles a pebble in his knee, in New York on Wednesday. It was initially revealed that Stolarz was day-to-day and this is a lengthier timeline than initially given by the Maple Leafs. Joseph Woll has been elevated to the clear No. 1 role, while Dennis Hildeby will be locked into the backup role for the next month.
Here is the Maple Leafs’ projected lineup for Wednesday’s game against the Stars:
William Nylander-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner
Matthew Knies-John Tavares-Max Pacioretty
Bobby McMann-Max Domi-Nick Robertson
Steven Lorentz-David Kampf-Ryan Reaves
Morgan Rielly-Philippe Myers
Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson-Conor Timmins
Joseph Woll
Dennis Hildeby