Sheldon Keefe puzzles Leafs fans with line combinations
Fans are confused, and justifiably so.
HockeyFeed
The Toronto Maple Leafs have their backs up against the wall for the first time in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, trailing three games to none to the upstart Florida Panthers. Should the host Panthers prevail tomorrow night, they'll punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since their Cinderella-esque run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996.
The Maple Leafs want to do anything and everything to prevent that from happening, and they'll be starting the daunting task of attempting to become the first team since the 2014 Los Angeles Kings to win four straight after dropping the first three games of a playoff series with some puzzling new lineup decisions.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe has confused fans and media members alike this afternoon by putting back together the trio of Alex Kerfoot, John Tavares, and William Nylander. Meanwhile, it will be veteran Mark Giordano serving as the 7th defenseman, while T.J. Brodie and Justin Holl have been reunited as a defensive pairing.
Take a look at the full lineup for tomorrow's pivotal Game 4 courtesy of Jonas Siegel of The Athletic:
Järnkrok -- Matthews -- Marner
Kerfoot — Tavares -- Nylander
Bunting -- O'Reilly -- Acciari
Aston-Reese -- Kämpf -- Lafferty
Rielly -- Schenn
Brodie — Holl
McCabe — Liljegren
Giordano — Gustafsson
Goaltender Joseph Woll, who took over from the injured Ilya Samsonov in Game 3, will get the nod in net with Matt Murray as backup.
Tomorrow's Game 4 will start from FLA Live Arena at 7:00 PM EST.
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