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Leafs look to maintain momentum in Montreal
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Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mer
By Mer
May 24, 2021, 13:15 EDTUpdated: May 24, 2021, 12:59 EDT
Following a terrifying injury to captain @John Tavares, which left the team understandably shaken and led to a 2-1 Montreal win to start the series, the Leafs bounced back in a big way Saturday night, with @Jack Campbell backstopping the team to a 5-1 dominant win. The series now tied at 1-1, the Buds head to Montreal tonight for the first game in a back-to-back, hoping to keep that momentum going to take a series lead.
While @Carey Price was definitely the reason the Habs won game 1, he was also arguably at least part of the reason they lost game 2. Of course, the Leafs were buzzing, with lines clicking, passes connecting, and the defense keeping the Habs to only 23 SOG for the entire game. It was a dominant showing for the Leafs, and they’ll definitely be looking to replicate it tonight.
Meanwhile, it seems the Habs are looking to make some changes to help them recover from the 5-1 loss:
Montreal fans were vocally confused and disappointed that @Cole Caufield wasn’t in the lineup to start the playoffs, so it will be interesting to see if and how he impacts the game coming into game 3. It’s a bit unclear from morning skate who Caufield is replacing in the lineup, so we’ll wait and see if there’s any clarity on that this afternoon.
From the other side’s morning skate, some observations:
Makes sense to have Campbell start the first half of the back-to-back, when looking to grab a series lead. That likely means @Frederik Andersen will start his first playoff game of the season tomorrow night.
This is not great, as @Nick Foligno had slotted in for John Tavares at centre – hopefully he’s missing morning skate for maintenance reasons.
While there are still some questions about line combinations and who is in and out, one thig is guaranteed: it’s going to be an exciting couple days!

Lineups

Toronto Maple Leafs

LWCRW
Zach Hyman

ZACH HYMAN
Rating: 74.6#33 LW
Auston Matthews

AUSTON MATTHEWS
Rating: 82.3#6 C
Mitch Marner

MITCH MARNER
Rating: 76.6#18 RW
Alex Galchenyuk

ALEX GALCHENYUK
Rating: 70.8#115 LW
Nick Foligno

NICK FOLIGNO
Rating: 72.5#61 C
William Nylander

WILLIAM NYLANDER
Rating: 76.1#23 RW
Pierre Engvall

PIERRE ENGVALL
Rating: 71.0#98 LW
Alexander Kerfoot

ALEXANDER KERFOOT
Rating: 70.8#113 C
Ilya Mikheyev

ILYA MIKHEYEV
Rating: 74.0#42 RW
Joe Thornton

JOE THORNTON
Rating: 72.3#74 LW
Jason Spezza

JASON SPEZZA
Rating: 69.4#126 C
Wayne Simmonds

WAYNE SIMMONDS
Rating: 70.2#112 RW
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Morgan Rielly

MORGAN RIELLY
Rating: 75.3#14 LD
T.J. Brodie

T.J. BRODIE
Rating: 74.2#27 RD
Jake Muzzin

JAKE MUZZIN
Rating: 75.1#17 LD
Justin Holl

JUSTIN HOLL
Rating: 72.0#61 RD
Rasmus Sandin

RASMUS SANDIN
Rating: 72.3#69 LD
Zach Bogosian

ZACH BOGOSIAN
Rating: 71.4#76 RD

Montreal Canadiens

LWCRW
Tomas Tatar

TOMAS TATAR
Rating: 77.7#10 LW
Phillip Danault

PHILLIP DANAULT
Rating: 75.5#29 C
Brendan Gallagher

BRENDAN GALLAGHER
Rating: 78.3#7 RW
Tyler Toffoli

TYLER TOFFOLI
Rating: 75.9#25 LW
Joel Armia

JOEL ARMIA
Rating: 73.1#54 RW
Corey Perry

COREY PERRY
Rating: 70.8#101 LW
Eric Staal

ERIC STAAL
Rating: 74.2#45 C
Josh Anderson

JOSH ANDERSON
Rating: 73.4#42 RW
Paul Byron

PAUL BYRON
Rating: 71.8#78 LW
Artturi Lehkonen

ARTTURI LEHKONEN
Rating: 71.7#81 RW
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Joel Edmundson

JOEL EDMUNDSON
Rating: 73.8#39 LD
Jeff Petry

JEFF PETRY
Rating: 76.7#13 RD
Brett Kulak

BRETT KULAK
Rating: 73.4#46 LD
Ben Chiarot

BEN CHIAROT
Rating: 73.8#38 RD
Jon Merrill

JON MERRILL
Rating: 72.6#54 LD
Shea Weber

SHEA WEBER
Rating: 76.5#15 RD
*Note that Caufield is supposedly slotting in for Staal

Starting Goalies

Maple Leafs: Jack Campbell

Jack gets the start on the first half of the back-to-back, after a strong 22-save performance Saturday, and (despite the loss), a commendable 28-save performance on Thursday. He has demonstrated that his regular season success is translatable to playoffs, as he has looked cool, calm and collected in net so far. He has a chance tonight to help the team take the series lead, and Jack is nothing if not committed to helping the Leafs win. It can be pretty much guaranteed that if the team wins he will credit everyone else, and if they lose he’ll only blame himself. Nobody likes watching Jack sulk, so here’s hoping they win.

Canadiens: Carey Price

After game 1 it seemed like vintage Carey Price might have returned, as he stopped 35 of 36 Leafs SOG. But Saturday was a different story, as the flurry of offense from the Leafs beat Price 4 times (with a 5th empty netter to top things off). What will tonight bring? Will we see a strong, solid, stopping everything Price, or the one who the Leafs can beat multiple times? Which one we see will make a huge difference.
Tune in at 7pm EST on Sportsnet to see it all go down!