Leafs forced to dress all-lefty defense against the Golden Knights.
The Maple Leafs (optional) and Golden Knights practiced at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday.
Timothy Liljegren, a right-shot rearguard, will miss Tuesday’s game due to an undisclosed ailment, forcing the Leafs to play an all-lefty defense.
“I don’t like it,” stated head coach Sheldon Keefe, recalling his previous encounter with the alignment. “We do have a number of guys that are at least comfortable on the right side, and certainly if not comfortable at least have experience with it, and can manage that and just press on.”
Jake McCabe moved to the right side earlier this season and has been playing there consistently. T.J. Brodie spent the majority of his career on the off side before switching to the left side following Morgan Rielly’s suspension. Simon Benoit got reps on the right side during Monday’s practice session. William Lagesson has also stepped in on that side.
McCabe is getting to the point where he has enough reps and has had some success with it, so he’s comfortable with it,” Keefe explained. “Throughout my time here, Morgan has been quite willing to play the right side. Obviously, he hasn’t done much of it, but whenever we’ve asked him or needed someone to do something, he’s always the first to raise his hand and want to go over there.”
When Liljegren was wounded on Saturday, Rielly offered to exchange sides so Brodie could stay on the left.
“He just said, ‘I’ll go play the right side,’ and he’s good with that,” he added.
Benoit stated that he intends to stick with McCabe to start Tuesday’s game.
“I suspect we’ll be moving things around a fair bit,” Keefe warned.
The Golden Knights feel they can take advantage of Toronto’s all-Southpaw defense.
On D-to-D [passes] in the neutral zone, if you take a nice angle, you can limit where they can go with the puck or force a faster play,” coach Bruce Cassidy explained. “When pucks come around the boards in the offensive zone, you know you can get on top of them a little quicker because they have to switch from backhand to forehand. In general, these are likely the areas. I’m not sure how effectively they pivot on their off side. That’s something you wouldn’t know till
Things like that aren’t obvious until you play against them a few times. However, in general, there are a few options.”
Cassidy did mention that his side will need to be on the watch for speedier one-timers when the Leafs have the puck in the offensive zone.
“There are some benefits to playing on your off side,” Keefe added. “If you play a better team game, you can maximize those benefits. If you are not playing a solid team game, you might exacerbate the disadvantages and challenges that come with it.”
The Leafs are thin on the right side after important off-season signing John Klingberg had season-ending hip surgery. He has not played since November.
Conor Timmins, another righty, is now unavailable as he recovers from mononucleosis.
Toronto’s team game is in the best form it has been this season. The Leafs recently swept a four-game road trip, including a victory in Vegas last Thursday. Toronto has won seven consecutive games overall.
“You don’t want any letup,” Keefe added. “The fact we’re playing the same opponent, an opponent we have a tremendous amount of respect for, that in itself should be enough for us to not take a step backwards.”
