Maple Leafs Sheldon Keefe Shuffles Lines and Defense Pairs Ahead of Game 4 Against Panthers
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe changed up his forward lines while moving TJ Brodie on the left side as his club looks to avoid elimination against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.
SUNRISE, Fla. — The Toronto Maple Leafs will trot out a new look throughout the lineup as they look to avoid elimination in Game 4 against the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.
Calle Jarnkrok has been reunited alongside core forwards Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. Alex Kerfoot moved up to the second line to bring back a familiar look with captain John Tavares and William Nylander. Michael Bunting was moved back to the third line alongside Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari.
While the moves upfront look familiar, the defense sees perhaps the most radical of changes. For the first time in the postseason, TJ Brodie has been moved from the right side to the left and will skate with Justin Holl. Meanwhile, Jake McCabe will skate with Timothy Liljegren.
"(I'm) just trying to get Brodie on the left side to see if that can help us. He and McCabe haven’t gone the way we’d like it to through both series, frankly. Brodie and Holl have played a lot together at different times in the season and have done a really good job."
Brodie and McCabe had skated together more than any other Leafs defense pair through the 2023 playoffs. At 5-on-5, they've been on the ice for two goals-for and six against and have maintained a shots share of just 44 percent, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
The combo of Brodie and Holl played in 56 regular season games in 2022-23 and had an expected goals percentage of 54 percent.
Although the Leafs rolled with four lines and four defense pairs, Keefe made a point to mention Giordano as in the mix for deployment on Wednesday, despite the veteran playing in just 7:47 of Game 3, his lowest ice time since 2009.
That means the Leafs will likely stick with 11 and seven forwards on Wednesday.
Jake McCabe has seen limited action with Timothy Liljegren, however, it has occurred this season, mostly out of necessity due to the seven defensemen deployment Toronto trotted out since McCabe joined the club in February.
In 73:44 of 5-on-5 ice time during the regular season, the pairing of McCabe and Liljegren had a shots share of 55 percent and a goals-for share of 67 percent.
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