The Maple Leafs put the offensive defenseman back on the top power play after Morgan Rielly started there last game.
The Maple Leafs put the offensive defenseman back on the top power play after Morgan Rielly started there last game.
When the Toronto Maple Leafs took the ice for their morning skate ahead of their game against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday, defenseman John Klingberg was back on the team's top power-play unit along with forwards Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and William Nylander.
It was notable since, Klingberg, who started the season on the top power play, was subbed out for defenseman Morgan Rielly to start Toronto's 6-5 overtime win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on. Monday.
Turns out, the direction of the shot from the point.
"It's less about the individual and more about some of the different looks that come from a lefty and righty based on what we want to accomplish on the power play," Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said.
Toronto's bench boss added that Klingberg did find himself back on the top unit later in the game.
"We just wanted to get a righty with a different look we were trying to exploit," Keefe said. "A lot of the discussions we’re having is what’s the better fit that way."
Rielly, — a left-handed shot — leads all Leafs defensemen this season with two goals and eight assists in 12 games and he has a goal and two assists while on the power play this season.
Klingberg — a right-handed shot — has no goals and five assists in 12 games this season and three of those have come with the man-advantage.
Toronto has the fifth-best power play through games played on Tuesday at 26.8 percent. They've finished the last two seasons in the top two in that category. But now under a new power-play coach in Guy Boucher, the Leafs have tinkered a little bit more.
The Maple Leafs signed Klingberg to a one-year, $4.15 million deal this summer and are hoping that his offensive game will make him better defensively as well. But it hasn't gone that way. Klingberg has the second-worst plus-minus rating at minus-5.
Related
Maple Leafs Franchise Value Sees Massive 25 Percent Increase to $2.65B in Latest Valuation
Maple Leafs Look to Build Momentum Against Senators, Lineups and Where to Watch
News from THN.com
THN Archive: Lindros Has Always Been a Special Person and Player
Screen Shots: New York Islanders, Minnesota Wild, Matthew Knies
The Hockey News Pre-Game Show: NHL Goaltending Talk and Opening Hockey Cards