The Toronto Maple Leafs have decided against a lineup change as they start their Western Conference road trip, even after it led to a comeback win on Tuesday.
Coming into Thursday off the heels of a comeback win, the Maple Leafs are going to be taking on friend turned nemesis Mitch Marner and the rest of the Vegas Golden Knights but have a wave of momentum coming into the game.
Gavin McKenna got the monkey off his back, and Auston Matthews came through with a four-point effort as things started to really gel together. But their work isn't done yet, and there is still a question as to how the team will line up.
Maple Leafs decide against making a lineup change against Vegas
After Jim Hiller made a slew of changes mid-game against Nashville, we were wondering if those would carry over and while there was hope - it's more of the same at least to start.
Marchenko-Matthews-Roslovic
Cowan-Tavares-Nylander
McKenna-Paul-Sissons
Duhaime-Blueger-Groulx
McCabe-Tanev
Rielly-Raddysh
OEL-Stecher
Bobrovsky (starter)
Stolarz
Things remain unchanged for the Maple Leafs when it comes to the first line as Kirill Marchenko, Auston Matthews, and Jack Roslovic will be up together yet again. Easton Cowan is getting a promotion to the second line to take over for Gavin McKenna, who lines up on the third with some added protection.
No changes on the back-end though it would be nice if the Maple Leafs were able to get free agent signing Nick Blankenburg into some games, especially since they are on a fairly long road trip and can't just rely on Troy Stecher every single game, he's going to need a break.
Sergei Bobrovsky is going to try and get his first win as a Maple Leaf, as he is currently 0-2-0 with a 3.06 GAA and .887 SV% to start the season, not the best beginning to his Toronto career.
Toronto trying to wave a momentous comeback win into Vegas
Though the big story is going to be how the Maple Leafs respond after falling behind 3-0 to the Predators on Tuesday. They ended up winning the game after a fantastic team effort punctuated by Gavin McKenna's first career goal, but they can't afford to do the same against Vegas.
They are a nightmare to play against and with McKenna going up against the likes of Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, and Shea Theodore - he has his work cut out for him.
It will also be interesting to see if he and Auston Matthews share any more time on the ice outside of the power-play, as many thought the two would inevitably line up on Thursday.
Bobrovsky also needs to prove that he was worth the $7M AAV invested in him, as he really has not been that lights out goalie; in fact Stolarz has been better and he's penciled in as the backup.
It's going to be a late one for Maple Leafs fans, but the team has a chance to get their Western Conference road trip started off the right way, but no one said it was going to be easy.
Were the Maple Leafs wrong to go back to their old lines against Vegas?
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