The Toronto Maple Leafs had an aggressive practice on Friday as videos emerged of an intense net-front battle between William Nylander and Timothy Liljegren during a drill.
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Very aggressive battles at Leafs practice. Before that, Matthews took Rielly down other end. <a href="https://t.co/843keuQHSQ">pic.twitter.com/843keuQHSQ</a>
&mdash; David Alter (@dalter) <a href="https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1849845637430263994?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Craig Berube was clearly asking his players to show a sense of urgency in practice, which makes sense given they are coming off two abysmal losses this week that dropped their record to 4-4-0. He told reporters after Thursday&#8217;s game that he felt his players were playing lazy hockey and needed to get back to paying attention to details.
“I think a lot of that in the last two games, for me, is our whole team has gotten a little cute,” <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/craig-berube-on-maple-leafs-5-1-loss-to-blues-our-whole-teams-gotten-a-little-cute" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Berube said</a>. “We just gotta play direct. We don’t need that kind of thing, you know?”
<a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/matthews-nylander-ekman-larsson-accountable-losses-toronto-maple-leafs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">To their credit</a>, the Leafs players who spoke with the media last night held themselves accountable for their mistakes and assessed what has gone wrong lately. It will be up to them to get themselves out of the mess they made, and the intensity shown in practice is a sign they are taking the coach&#8217;s pleas to heart.
One thing that people wondered about <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/4-observations-toronto-maple-leafs-blues-matthews-nylander-hits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">after their loss to the St. Louis Blues</a> was whether the Leafs would be making some major adjustments to their lines for Saturday&#8217;s game against the Boston Bruins. It turns out there are going to be minimal changes made, as was noted in the lines posted by <a href="https://x.com/joshuakloke/status/1849845372853665808" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic&#8217;s Joshua Kloke</a>.
Forwards
Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner
Bobby McMann-Max Domi-William Nylander
Steven Lorentz-John Tavares-Nick Robertson
Pontus Holmberg-David Kampf-Ryan Reaves
Defence
Morgan Rielly-Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit-Conor Timmins
Goalies
Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll
Extras
Max Pacioretty, Connor Dewar, Phillippe Myers, Timothy Liljegren, Jani Hakanpaa
The only change that was made in comparison to Thursday night was Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Chris Tanev swapping places on the back end.
In a vacuum, rewarding Ekman-Larsson&#8217;s strong play with a promotion to the top unit makes sense, as does pairing Tanev with Jake McCabe to act as the shutdown pair, given they lined up together on the penalty kill. At the same time, some fans want to see a shakeup to the top six, given that the top line has struggled mightily the past two games and got scolded by Berube after the third goal against.
It is certainly possible that Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and Matthew Knies can figure it out and play out of the slump they put themselves in. But until that happens, the screams from the fanbase are only going to grow louder.
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No personnel changes as power-play work gets underway at Leafs practice 
Berube calling for quick puck movement <a href="https://t.co/JI9PVxiInj">pic.twitter.com/JI9PVxiInj</a>
&mdash; Mark Masters (@markhmasters) <a href="https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/1849850366978076836?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Another area that has been struggling lately but hasn&#8217;t seen any major adjustments to the lines is the power-play unit. Instead, there was an emphasis on quicker puck movements and an increase in shot volume, along with <a href="https://x.com/sunhornby/status/1849860749985972700" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one-on-one meetings after practice with assistant coach Marc Savard</a>.
&#8220;We&#8217;re all a part of it, right? We all want the power play to do well, including the players. We just gotta keep banging away at it. They&#8217;re getting opportunities, it&#8217;s not going in,&#8221; Berube said to reporters after Friday&#8217;s practice. &#8220;Shooting&#8217;s a little off and things like that, but we can also get pucks into the good area of the ice a little bit more and create some second and third chances.&#8221;
That was the collective message from the players who spoke with the media following practice: they like the setup and chances they are getting but need to find better luck with executing. Those words won&#8217;t quell the frustration of the fanbase until the power play starts clicking again because these struggles<a href="https://x.com/reporterchris/status/1849617204796424598?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1849617204796424598%7Ctwgr%5E9124b32929b455817a66dd0c782c6fb53f8f6d3c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehockeynews.com%2Fnhl%2Ftoronto-maple-leafs%2Flatest-news%2Fi-see-progression-in-the-right-direction-maple-leafs-power-play-struggling-but-top-players-and-craig-berube-believe-success-will-come" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> date back to late last season</a> and were a big reason why they lost in the first round.
One interesting thing <a href="https://x.com/dalter/status/1849850663410213326" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to note is that Max Pacioretty</a> took the place of Bobby McMann in the second unit, which leaves one to wonder if he will be cleared to play on Saturday. He left Tuesday&#8217;s game with a lower-body injury and was unavailable for Thursday&#8217;s game, though he was listed as &#8216;day-to-day&#8217; by Berube this week.

The Toronto Maple Leafs had an aggressive practice on Friday as videos emerged of an intense net-front battle between William Nylander and Timothy Liljegren during a drill.

https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1849845637430263994

Craig Berube was clearly asking his players to show a sense of urgency in practice, which makes sense given they are coming off two abysmal losses this week that dropped their record to 4-4-0. He told reporters after Thursday's game that he felt his players were playing lazy hockey and needed to get back to paying attention to details.

“I think a lot of that in the last two games, for me, is our whole team has gotten a little cute,” <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/craig-berube-on-maple-leafs-5-1-loss-to-blues-our-whole-teams-gotten-a-little-cute" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Berube said</a>. “We just gotta play direct. We don’t need that kind of thing, you know?”

<a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/matthews-nylander-ekman-larsson-accountable-losses-toronto-maple-leafs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">To their credit</a>, the Leafs players who spoke with the media last night held themselves accountable for their mistakes and assessed what has gone wrong lately. It will be up to them to get themselves out of the mess they made, and the intensity shown in practice is a sign they are taking the coach's pleas to heart.

One thing that people wondered about <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/4-observations-toronto-maple-leafs-blues-matthews-nylander-hits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">after their loss to the St. Louis Blues</a> was whether the Leafs would be making some major adjustments to their lines for Saturday's game against the Boston Bruins. It turns out there are going to be minimal changes made, as was noted in the lines posted by <a href="https://x.com/joshuakloke/status/1849845372853665808" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Athletic's Joshua Kloke</a>.

Forwards

Matthew Knies-Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner

Bobby McMann-Max Domi-William Nylander

Steven Lorentz-John Tavares-Nick Robertson

Pontus Holmberg-David Kampf-Ryan Reaves

Defence

Morgan Rielly-Oliver Ekman-Larsson

Jake McCabe-Chris Tanev

Simon Benoit-Conor Timmins

Goalies

Anthony Stolarz

Joseph Woll

Extras

Max Pacioretty, Connor Dewar, Phillippe Myers, Timothy Liljegren, Jani Hakanpaa

The only change that was made in comparison to Thursday night was Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Chris Tanev swapping places on the back end.

In a vacuum, rewarding Ekman-Larsson's strong play with a promotion to the top unit makes sense, as does pairing Tanev with Jake McCabe to act as the shutdown pair, given they lined up together on the penalty kill. At the same time, some fans want to see a shakeup to the top six, given that the top line has struggled mightily the past two games and got scolded by Berube after the third goal against.

It is certainly possible that Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and Matthew Knies can figure it out and play out of the slump they put themselves in. But until that happens, the screams from the fanbase are only going to grow louder.

https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/1849850366978076836

Another area that has been struggling lately but hasn't seen any major adjustments to the lines is the power-play unit. Instead, there was an emphasis on quicker puck movements and an increase in shot volume, along with <a href="https://x.com/sunhornby/status/1849860749985972700" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one-on-one meetings after practice with assistant coach Marc Savard</a>.

"We're all a part of it, right? We all want the power play to do well, including the players. We just gotta keep banging away at it. They're getting opportunities, it's not going in," Berube said to reporters after Friday's practice. "Shooting's a little off and things like that, but we can also get pucks into the good area of the ice a little bit more and create some second and third chances."

That was the collective message from the players who spoke with the media following practice: they like the setup and chances they are getting but need to find better luck with executing. Those words won't quell the frustration of the fanbase until the power play starts clicking again because these struggles<a href="https://x.com/reporterchris/status/1849617204796424598?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1849617204796424598%7Ctwgr%5E9124b32929b455817a66dd0c782c6fb53f8f6d3c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehockeynews.com%2Fnhl%2Ftoronto-maple-leafs%2Flatest-news%2Fi-see-progression-in-the-right-direction-maple-leafs-power-play-struggling-but-top-players-and-craig-berube-believe-success-will-come" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> date back to late last season</a> and were a big reason why they lost in the first round.

One interesting thing <a href="https://x.com/dalter/status/1849850663410213326" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to note is that Max Pacioretty</a> took the place of Bobby McMann in the second unit, which leaves one to wonder if he will be cleared to play on Saturday. He left Tuesday's game with a lower-body injury and was unavailable for Thursday's game, though he was listed as 'day-to-day' by Berube this week.

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