Toronto Maple Leafs projected lines announced for game one of the Stanley Cup finals vs the Ottawa Senators.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced their official lineup for the team's first playoff game against Ottawa, adding a few major additions to the roster.
It has already been confirmed by Leafs head coach Craig Berube that the team will have defensemen Jake McCabe & Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the lineup for Toronto, both back from injuries suffered earlier this month.
McCabe will be alongside Chris Tanev, while Ekman-Larsson will be with Simon Benoit. Morgan Rielly will pair with Brandon Carlo.
At forward, the Leafs will continue to play their roster from the final game of the regular season.
Max Pacioretty & David Kampf, both of whom Craig Berube has confirmed will be available against Ottawa, will not play tonight.
Toronto's Forward Lines are as follows :
Matthew - Knies - Auston Matthews (c) - Mitch Marner
Max Domi - John Tavares - William Nylander
Bobby McMann - Pontus Holmberg - Nick Robertson
Steven Lorentz - Scott Laughton - Calle Jarnkrok
There is some confusion over the exact line pairings on defense. Sportsnet's Luke Fox has Rielly & Carlo on the top line while TSN's Mark Masters has McCabe/Tanev on the first pairing.
As well, Benoit & Ekman-Larsson, both lefties, have uncertainty over who is playing the right side. Fox has Benoit at right, while Masters has Ekman-Larsson. Nick Barden of 'The Hockey News', who has Rielly-Carlo as the top pairing, has Ekman-Larsson at RHD.
Assuming from these three reports that the majority of the defensive pairs is correct, the defensive lines would be as such
Morgan Rielly - Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe - Chris Tanev
Simon Benoit - Oliver Ekman-Larsson
In the Leafs net, Anthony Stolarz gets the start for Toronto.
Stolarz, 31, had a 21-8-3 record in the regular season for the Leafs in 34 games played with a 2.14GAA and a .926sv%.
The Ottawa Senators lines are as follows
Brady Tkachuk - Tim Stützle - Claude Giroux
David Perron - Dylan Cozens - Drake Batherson
Ridly Greig - Shane Pinto - Michael Amadio
Nick Cousins - Adam Gaudette - Fabian Zetterlund
Tyler Kleven - Nikolas Matinpalo
Linus Ullmark will start for the Senators. Ullmark, 31, has a 25-14-3 record in 44 games for Ottawa, along with a 2.70 GAA and a .910 SV %.
It seems like both teams are heading into the playoffs healthy and with one goal in mind