Starting off the season with back-to-back games seems like a new one for the Toronto Maple Leafs, nevertheless, here they are. That’s probably a good thing as you’d hope that it would take more than one game for exhaustion to set in, and ideally training camp has helped build up the stamina that two nights of hockey isn’t a shock to their system.
With that said, Wednesday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens could have gone better and it would be nice if the Leafs weren’t still looking for their first goal of the season. Given the opponent for tonight’s game, I’m sure most of the Leafs will rally themselves accordingly.
Sheldon Keefe and his hopefully jet-lagged New Jersey Devils will be hosting the Leafs tonight. The Devils are already two games into their season and are looking to add to their unbeaten streak against the club that dismissed their head coach. While Sheldon Keefe is going to be highly motivated, the Devils in general seem excited to prove that last season was an anomaly, and with a coach that is certainly more of an up-tempo style compared to Lindy Ruff, they just might do that.
Keefe is likely to play the Devils’ forwards the way they were intended to be used and that is going to make a huge difference. And while Keefe’s style might not have panned out particularly well in Toronto, he has a bit more of a forgiving situation in net with Jacob Markstrom helping him out in ways that Ilya Samsonov and Jack Campbell never could.
The Keefe era in New Jersey is oddly enough starting with many labeling him as a Jack Adams contender. This is something that Keefe was never considered for during his time with the Maple Leafs despite winning the North Division in the regular season as his first full year as the Leafs’ bench boss and having a .701 points percentage as his follow-up to that. Even in the final two seasons he coached with the Leafs when there were more frequent calls for his removal, he had .677 and .622 point percentage seasons, and he finished his time in Toronto with a .665 points percentage, a number that would be an absolute dream for him in New Jersey. It’s a number that the Leafs would be very pleased to get out of Craig Berube this year as well.
What are the changes that are leading to Keefe getting that consideration? Is it simply the impact of a top goaltender and Markstrom is the missing piece for Keefe? Perhaps. It could also be that the narrative about the Leafs’ “Core Four” not being able to win being so prevalent and that they were in some ways uncoachable which held Keefe back more than Keefe held them back and didn’t set them up for success. That is likely going to be one of the key motivators for both the Leafs and Keefe tonight.
While it might not be Leafs’ “Core Four” level, Jack Hughes along with Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt feels like a familiar situation. The difference might be lack of scrutiny outside of Toronto and the lack of specific branding around this group throughout the rest of the league.
The Leafs come into Thursday night knowing better than anyone else what to expect from a Keefe-coached team, and it will be interesting to see if that is their advantage or whether the Devils have bought into Keefe in a way that the Leafs haven’t recently and there is more merit to his coaching approach than the Maple Leafs felt following their early playoff exit.
We’ll see if the Leafs can implement blue line blockades or clog the shooting lanes to shutdown Keefe’s offence or if will be Keefe who has his team enact that strategy against Toronto. Or maybe everyone has evolved.
Projected Lineups
(via Daily Faceoff)
Toronto Maple Leafs:
Knies – Matthews – Marner
Domi – Tavares – Nylander
Pacioretty – Holmberg – Robertson
Lorentz – Kampf – Reaves
Rielly – Tanev
Ekman-Larsson – McCabe
Benoit – Timmins
Stolarz (projected starter)
Hildeby
Philippe Myers, Timothy Liljegren & Ryan Reaves are on the ice this morning in NJ
Bobby McMann is not
Suggests that McMann draws in tonight for Reaves
Berube will meet media around 4:45 pm @TSN_Edge
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) October 10, 2024
Stolarz had a strong opening night that could earn him back-to-back starts, only allowing one goal on 27 shots. That being said, with Joseph Woll out for at least the first three games, the situation could call for him being in the net even longer than that and putting Anthony in a back-to-back, three game in four night situation to start the year might not be ideal. The alternative is Dennis Hildeby, who definitely is a prospect that has generated some excitement. Berube’s best season came when he decided to take the chance on a rookie netminder, so perhaps he’ll give the young Swede his shot tonight. Expect some gamesmanship regarding who gets the call.
As for the rest of the Leafs, there are a couple of guys in the lineup who are looking to have a big game against Sheldon Keefe, it’s probably Nick Robertson and Conor Timmins. Both Robertson and Timmins were frequent scratches under Keefe and their offence only play wasn’t something that Keefe really attempted to put them in the best opportunity to use.
New Jersey Devils:
Meier – J. Hughes – Bratt
Tatar – Hischier – Mercer
Palat – Haula – Noesen
Cotter – Lazar – Bastian
Dillon – Hamilton
Siegenthaler – Kovacevic
Casey – Nemec
Markstrom
Stefan Noesen was briefly a Leaf/Marlie, but I’m sure there is no grudge being held there and while he’ll end up being good for a point because of it, the revenge aspect isn’t really relevant. Noesen has come into his own in the past two seasons and has been a valuable bottom six physical offence option and is the type of player the Leafs have historically struggled against.
It will also be interesting to see how the Dillon/Hamilton top pairing does as it comes with a similar vibe to the Leafs new look top pairing of Morgan Rielly-Chris Tanev.
Markstrom seemed like he could have been the Leafs’ “Plan A” in net this summer and it will be interesting to see how he does against Brad Treliving & Co.
Where to tune in
TSN 4 will carry the game regionally tonight with a scheduled 7 pm ET puck drop. Immediately following the game, be sure to check out TLN After Dark to break down the Leafs first game against Sheldon Keefe.
