The Oilers intend to stack the star forwards on the same line together.
EDMONTON — After four games of seeing Morgan Rielly play with Jake McCabe, the Toronto Maple Leafs have changed up their defense yet again.
During the club's practice on Friday afternoon at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube reunited Morgan Rielly with defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, meanwhile, the defensive shutdown pair of Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev have been brought back.
Berube admitted that some of the reason for the switch is adjusting to what the Edmonton Oilers will present. They are set to have star forwards Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl play together.
"We're going into a pretty good line here tomorrow. We all know that. And we're going to need those two guys to do a good job for us," Berube said of his shutdown pair. "I had Caber on the right for a bit. And coming off the injury, I didn't feel like he was the same over there.
"OEL and Mo played together quite a bit this year. And we need those top four to be really good tomorrow."
In over 284 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey together, McDavid and Draisaitl's shot share is a staggering 66 percent, according to NaturalStatTrick.com
"We've got to be prepared to have two lines work against those guys in different situations. And maybe two D pairs too depending on the situations," Berube said. "Power plays and penalty kills, that all comes into play too with it all. So, when they load them up, they're hard to handle for sure. And it's a hard workload for the line and for the D pair."
Toronto will try to counter by taking away possession from Edmonton's top stars During Toronto's only game against the Oilers this season on Nov. 16, John Tavares, successfully limited McDavid to just 30 percent possessions.
"I'm not going to speak on it too much, but I think you're just not one guy or one line," Tavares said. "Whether it's Connor or Leon and other guys that have their ability to maintain a high level of play through endurance is exceptional. "So, you know, everyone's going to see bits and parts of them at different times of the game."
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The return of McCabe and Tanev as a defensive tandem and their effectiveness will be Toronto's best chance at a win. Edmonton has the advantage of the second change and will look to take full advantage of that with their potent top line.
Draisaitl leads the NHL in goals this season with 36 and is second in the league in points (76). McDavid is fifth in points this season with 67.
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