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Leafs look to put strangehold on series on second half of back-to-back
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Photo credit: © Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
Dylan Murphy
May 25, 2021, 14:10 EDTUpdated: May 25, 2021, 14:05 EDT
Less than 24 hours after securing a 2-1 series lead over the Montreal Canadiens, the Leafs will take to the ice again tonight for Game 4 of the series. A loss sends the Leafs back home with the series tied once again, but a win will pull the series victory to within striking distance and set up a date in the second round with the Winnipeg Jets.
Sheldon Keefe has a media availability at 5 p.m. so we won’t know until then if there will be any lineup changes (such as the return of Nick Foligno after his sudden absence last night) or who the starting goaltender will be. At this moment however, all signs point towards Jack Campbell playing.
Per Arpon Basu of The Athletic, the Canadiens have several game-time decisions to make, including Artturi Lehkonen. Head coach Dominique Ducharme wouldn’t reveal anything further than that. One thing that he did confirm however, was this:
With that, let’s get to the expected lineups:

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
Alexander Kerfoot

ALEXANDER KERFOOT
Rating: 70.8#113 C
William Nylander

WILLIAM NYLANDER
Rating: 76.1#23 RW
Ilya Mikheyev

ILYA MIKHEYEV
Rating: 74.0#42 LW
Pierre Engvall

PIERRE ENGVALL
Rating: 71.0#98 C
Wayne Simmonds

WAYNE SIMMONDS
Rating: 70.2#112 RW
Joe Thornton

JOE THORNTON
Rating: 72.3#74 LW
Riley Nash

RILEY NASH
Rating: 69.7#137 C
Jason Spezza

JASON SPEZZA
Rating: 69.4#126 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
Josh Anderson

JOSH ANDERSON
Rating: 73.4#42 RW
Joel Armia

JOEL ARMIA
Rating: 73.1#54 LW
Tyler Toffoli

TYLER TOFFOLI
Rating: 75.9#25 LW
Brendan Gallagher

BRENDAN GALLAGHER
Rating: 78.3#7 RW
Paul Byron

PAUL BYRON
Rating: 71.8#78 LW
Eric Staal

ERIC STAAL
Rating: 74.2#45 C
Corey Perry

COREY PERRY
Rating: 70.8#101 RW
DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS
Ben Chiarot

BEN CHIAROT
Rating: 73.8#38 LD
Shea Weber

SHEA WEBER
Rating: 76.5#15 RD
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
Jon Merrill

JON MERRILL
Rating: 72.6#54 RD
*Note that Eric Staal is listed as a game-time decision.

Starting Goalies

Maple Leafs: Jack Campbell
This is pure speculation at this point, as mentioned above, Keefe’s pre-game media availability is not for another couple of hours. Campbell has been exceptional thus far, limiting the Canadiens to 4 goals throughout the first three games of the series. With Price confirmed to be starting, it’s no long stretch of the imagination to believe that Keefe will do the same with his starting goaltender, rather than bring in a cold Frederik Andersen.
Canadiens: Carey Price
As confirmed above by Habs media, Price gets the nod for Game 4 and as has been the case for every game this far this series, it’s impossible to predict which Price will show up to play: the vintage, perennial Vezina nominee or the much more human Price that has been seen throughout the last four years. We certainly hope it’s the latter, but as always, it’s a wait-and-see situation.
Catch all the action on Sportsnet and CBC starting at 7:30pm EST!