Maple Leafs make drastic lineup change after last night’s shutout loss

The Toronto Maple Leafs get no rest following last night’s 3-0 loss at the hands of the Ottawa Senators as they are back in action later tonight against the Capitals in Washington.

Earlier today, the Maple Leafs therefore announced that defenseman Jani Hakanpaa has been recalled from his LTIR conditioning loan and activated off the long-term injured reserve on Wednesday. He played in two games for the AHL’s Marlies this past weekend as part of his LTIR conditioning loan. They were his first two games since March as he continues to rehab a knee injury and has yet to play in the NHL this season.

According to team insider James Mirtle, that means that Hakanpaa will be inserted in tonight’s lineup against Washington and that Conor Timmins will be made a healthy scratch, as both players are right-handed blue liners.

The Maple Leafs’ continued struggles with defensive consistency has therefore prompted head coach Craig Berube to make a move on the back end and give Hakanpaa the chance to prove his worth.

With a 10-4-0 record, Washington poses a significant challenge and it’s not only the defense that will need to step up, but also the forwards even though they find themselves without Auston Matthews and Max Pacioretty.

Here is the projected lineup for Toronto tonight: 

Knies - Tavares - Marner
McMann - Domi - Nylander
Robertson - Dewar - Steeves
Lorentz - Kampf - Holmberg

Rielly - Hakanpää
OEL - Tanev
McCabe - Timmins

Woll
Stolarz

Official lineup: