Ahead of Tuesday's matchup against the Nashville Predators, the Maple Leafs seem to be putting out more of the same despite losing to Ottawa on Saturday.
Monday's practice for the Maple Leafs meant the team was back on the horse as they try to shake off a loss to their provincial rivals on Saturday and head into Tuesday with a fresh outlook and potentially new lineup against Nashville.
Jim'll fix it...right? Unlikely against the Predators
But instead, Jim Hiller seems to be trying to run with the current lineup until the wheels definitively fall off because Monday showed he made no changes yet again despite there being some serious concerns regarding their second line:
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It's more of the same from Hiller, but you can't blame him for keeping at least the top and third line together as they have been the bright spots so far this season, and that first line has been one of the best in hockey to start the season:
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That second line though has been awful, and it's surprising that for a team so heavily into analytics, they seem to overlook the defensive miscues the second line offers.
No changes on the defensive side either and there could be issues there if both Darren Raddysh and Morgan Rielly can't be at least serviceable in their own end. Sergei Bobrovsky will get his second start in a row after a very solid effort against Ottawa.
How can Toronto overcome the Predators on Tuesday
Well, perhaps making some lineup changes would be a good start for Hiller, but since he doesn't seem keen on doing that just yet, then he has to use his newfound speed to take control.
Kirill Marchenko, Auston Matthews, and Jack Roslovic all have to turn on the jets against the Predators, and they are going to need to have Easton Cowan hounding them all night. This is a much faster Maple Leafs team than we've seen in years past, so they need to use it to their advantage.
They also need to make sure they try and limit the Predators' solid power-play that has them at nearly a 30% clip to start the year. However, the Maple Leafs are perfect on the PK this season and they are going to look to continue that on Tuesday.
It's not going to be easy against Nashville and despite being a bit of an older team, that doesn't mean they aren't without their firepower. Hiller's going to need to make sure he adapts on the fly because if he doesn't make changes coming out of a potential loss on Tuesday - then he needs a bit of a wake-up call.
Do you think Jim Hiller needs to make a lineup change for the Maple Leafs?
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