Craig Berube Makes Last-Minute Lineup Shakeup Against the Lightning

As the Maple Leafs head into a crucial matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they will have a pretty decent head start on their opponents, as they are without one of their top forwards and Toronto can feast on a weakened lineup that is just as hungry.

But the Leafs are coming off a brutal 3-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, so perhaps the team isn't exactly 100% ready when it comes to the playoffs; though they are missing some key pieces of their own.

Craig Berube saw something he didn't like on Tuesday night, and figured that a change was necessary. It's why then he decided to swap around his lineup and move Calle Jarnkrok to the second line, Bobby McMann to line three, and Scott Laughton earns yet another demotion to the fourth.

It's a much different look than games previous, and perhaps Berube is trying to figure out who best suits his playoff lineup and using a potential second round opponent to find out if they can handle the stress.

It's not that McMann has necessarily been bad or he needed to be demoted (that lies more in where Laughton sits in the lineup) but clearly the team wants to add a bit more defense to their top-six and perhaps try and spread things out a little bit more without being so top-heavy.

It will be interesting to see how Jarnkrok deals with a more prominent role, as there is no doubt that both John Tavares and William Nylander (with their combined 81 goals) will be looked at to provide a lot of the heavy lifting on offense.

What's a good sign though is that Toronto may have a much better chance as well given that Anthony Stolarz is starting, as the veteran goalie has been able to pretty much secure his spot as the starter for Game One, and unless Joseph Woll plays out of his mind for the next two games he starts; it's Stolarz's job no question.

The only thing we can do now is wait and see if Craig Berube's changes have a positive or negative effect. The team was doing just fine until Tuesday, and switching things up may be good in the short-term, but did the team just lose all their previously built up chemistry?

Only time will tell.