A subtle change made in the third period of Toronto's win against Minnesota on Saturday carries over into Monday.
A subtle change made in the third period of Toronto's win against Minnesota on Saturday carries over into Monday.
There will be a slight change to the forward lines the Toronto Maple Leafs will deploy when they host Connor Bedard and the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday.
After seeing some success from a third-period swap where Calle Jarnkrok moved up to the second line to skate with forwards John Tavares and William Nylander and Max Domi moving down to skate with rookies Fraser Minten and Matthew Knies, Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe is sticking with that adjustment for the team's third game of the regular season.
The reason for the change?
Adding better defence to the Tavares' line while improving the offense in the Minten line.
Through 6:12 of ice time together, the Knies-Minten-Jarnkrok line had an expected goals against rating of 0, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. On the other end, the Domi-Tavares-Nylander line had .64 goals against in 7:19 of ice time. The only line that was worse for Toronto was the fourth line of Noah Gregor, David Kampf and Ryan Reaves with an expected goals against rating of 1.22.
"I can see with Max's addition they got more going offensively," Keefe said of both Knies and Minten.
Joseph Woll will make his first start in goal this season after Ilya Samsonov was between the pipes for Toronto's first two games. It will be the 25-year-old's 12th NHL game as the club hopes the goaltender replicate his .932 save percentage in seven games last season
Connor Bedard visits Toronto
It's been quite the media tour for the NHL's first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. The Maple Leafs will get a first-hand look at Chicago's player of the future who is particularly known for his release.
"He shoots it as good as anybody I've seen," Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews said. "He's definitely special in that regard."
Taylor Hall took part in practice in Toronto and is expected after missing one game with a shoulder injury and practiced on a line with Bedard and Ryan Donato.
Where to watch
The game gets underway at 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast across the country on all four Sportsnet regional channels (Ontario, East, West and Pacific). Viewers in Chicago's local broadcast region can watch the game on NBC Sports Chicago. For everyone else in the United States, the game will be on ESPN+ and their NHL Live offering.
Worldwide, the game will be on NHL Live.
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