Leafs practice gives us first look at what the Muzzin-less lineup looks like

It’s probably not what anyone outside of what TLN writer Nick Barden wants, but for the time being, it looks like Martin Marincin will be in the lineup.

These pairings really seem to underline the importance of having Jake Muzzin in the lineup, so hopefully his recovery is speedy and the Leafs get him back for the next round, assuming they can make it past the Blue Jackets.

Before we look at the defensive pairings, we’ll acknowledge the forwards remain unchanged from how they finished game 2.

Now the pairings…

Strangely, this is still being listed as the second pairing by the Leafs. Likely pointing to the need to shelter them a bit more, but while it is fun to criticize Cody Ceci, it’s important to acknowledge the Leafs have allowed one goal in the past two games, and there is nothing to say that breaking up an established pairing at this point makes sense, even though part of me thought we’d see Rielly with Holl.

This is quite the promotion for Dermott, who hasn’t looked at his best in the past two games. He has experience playing with Holl, as well as he’s the most capable of the defensively of Rielly and himself, so if the goal is to continue to have Holl against the top offensive lines of the Blue Jackets, Dermott is the best option available, unless they went with Marincin, but that doesn’t sound like something anyone should want.

Marincin coming in over Sandin is going to be controversial, but as much as we want to see Sandin, this is the right call. Sandin’s time with the Leafs so far has been educational, but not strong. If Columbus reverts to the agressive 1-2-2 forecheck in Game 3, we could see a puck mover like Sandin come in for Marincin, but a steady presence makes more sense at this point, and it’s also worth noting that Barrie did well when partnered with Marincin this year. Bringing back the Marty Party means that we’ll probably see more of Barrie at 5v5 and this puts Barrie’s defensive deficiencies in check.

Lastly we’ll look at Sandin-Liljegren. They aren’t going to play in the game, but the fact that Liljegren seems to be getting healthier is encouraging, as playing him down the road might make even more sense than trying to bring Sandin into the lineup.

As confirmed by the Leafs earlier today, the Leafs will be making due without Muzzin for the rest of this series.

Given the lack of offense from the Blue Jackets, it’s entirely possible the Leafs will be able to weather the Muzzin-less storm, and advance, but it seems even more important that the Freddie Andersen who has been showing up continues to do so as well.