After playing poorly during the first period against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday evening and not being able to catch up during the last two periods, the Toronto Maple Leafs will face the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday evening as the first of a series of road games.
In this post, I’ll share some of the other Maple Leafs’ player moves and their impact on line changes just prior to the Flyers game on Wednesday night.
Related: Three Takeaways from Maple Leafs’ 5-1 Loss to the Kings
Player Move #1: Jack Campbell Gets Another Start in Net
Although it’s really hard to blame Jack Campbell for the loss, the loss did stop both his winning streak at four games and the team’s winning streak at five games. Campbell was victimized by goals when the team defense in front of him lost a board battle – actually two of them within a short time frame – and two Kings’ players (Trevor Moore and Andreas Athanasiou) scored almost identical goals on him.
As the Maple Leafs head into Philadelphia for its first road game against the Flyers, because the team has placed goalie Petr Mrazek on the IR (injured reserve list) with a groin injury, it looks as if Joseph Woll will once again back up Campbell, who is likely to carry a heavy load for the next while. The team has to hope there’s no injury for the 29-year-old Campbell.
The loss was Campbell’s first regulation loss on home ice. He has now registered a record of 6-3-1, a goals-against-average of 2.09, and a save percentage of .929 into the Flyers’ game.
Player Move #2: Ondrej Kase Is a Game-Time Decision for Wednesday
Neither John Tavares nor Ojdrej Kase dressed for practice today. After practice, Maple Leafs’ head coach Sheldon Keefe reported that both players were banged up, were listed as day-to-day, and were game-time decisions for tomorrow. It wouldn’t be good for either player to be injured, because both have been playing well; however, there are two youngsters ready to take their place if they can’t play. Today, Joey Anderson and Kirill Semyonov took their spots in the lineup during practice.
Kase has an undisclosed injury. His numbers are deceiving. He’s without a point during his last five games and he has just one goal in 13 games on the season. To my eyes, he’s been playing well and looks close to finding his offensive game. He’s had some jump in his game, especially during the team’s winning streak. If Kase can’t play Wednesday, it would likely be Anderson who jumps into his spot in the lineup.
Player Move #3: Justin Holl Will Play Again
At today’s practice, the top-two defensive pairings had moved back to the start-of-the-season pairings. That is, Morgan Rielly was once again skating with T.J. Brodie, and Jake Muzzin and Justin Holl were back together.
Coach Keefe announced after practice that Travis Dermott would sit out tomorrow night’s game. Keefe must like what he sees with the Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren pairing because he said he wants to keep them together.
Play Move #4: Will John Tavares Play on Wednesday?
John Tavares is dealing with an undisclosed injury of some sort. As a result, he too will be a game-time decision versus the Flyers. If he doesn’t play, he’ll be missed. He’s had a really strong start to the season with seven goals and six assists (for 13 points) in 13 games.
If Tavares cannot play, it’s likely that Alex Kerfoot will move into the second-line center position with Nick Ritchie moving up. However, Semyonov has shown a large upside, and he’s potentially a top-six player. It isn’t outside the realm of possibility that he’ll be given some time with the top-six groupings.
Too bad about any Tavares’ injury that’s debilitating him. He was generating offense and playing great defense as well. He’s quite capable of being a point-a-game player just like he was during the 2018-19 season, which was his best in the NHL.
Related: Four Takeaways from Maple Leafs 5-2 Win Over the Bruins
Randy Alexander (@RandyAl01464657)
November 10, 2021 at 6:49 am
Agreed Kase has looked really good at times I wish he played LW he would be interesting up in the lineup. He does look like an ijury waiting to happen, I guess because we all know his history. Semyonov may be real interesting, can play ctr or wng and seems to go to dirty areas unlike Barabanov(who got a nice goal last nite). I can see him on a line w/Mikheyev when he returns. We must lead the league in 3rd 4th liners.
Pingback: Three Takeaways from Maple Leafs 3-0 Shutout over the Flyers
Pingback: Three Takeaways from Maple Leafs 3-0 Shutout over the Flyers – Hockey 1 on 1