Injury Report for Toronto Maple Leafs Focuses on Goalies
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The Toronto Maple Leafs wrap up their regular season with a nothing game at New York against the Rangers.
Joseph Woll starts in goal, and who knows what amateur-level goalie will be brought in to back him up.
Who Will Be in Goal Against Tampa Bay?
Now NHL betting players are asking about the Leafs is whether rookie Matthew Knies suits up for Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in their opening round series this Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena. Who sits if Knies plays? Sam Lafferty? Zach Aston-Reese? And do the Leafs suit up D Luke Schenn in Game 1? And who sits there? Timothy Liljegren or Justin Holl?
A look at Thursday's injury report raises some big questions. D Erik Gustafsson tweaked something in his upper body and will sit out tonight. He is day-to-day. Lafferty is day-to-day. D Mark Giordano, F Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are listed as day-to-day. Does coach Sheldon Keefe play Marner tonight to give the Leafs' winger a shot at 100 points (he is at 99)? We hope not.
What is the Maple Leafs' Playoff Outlook?
It's impossible to over-emphasize how important this playoff series for the Leafs. They haven’t won a Stanley Cup since the Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. They haven’t won a playoff series since 2004.
If they go down to the Lightning again, heads will no doubt roll – the GM, Kyle Dubas, maybe even team president Brendan Shanahan, maybe the coach.
The past-due date on their roster core – Matthews, Marner, captain John Tavares, William Nylander – is fast approaching. Dubas did the right thing at the trade deadline by augmenting his talented core with gritty players with playoff pedigree – led by a former Conn Smythe winner and Stanley Cup champ Ryan O’Reilly, Noel Acciari, and Schenn.
There is no going back here – so for Game 1, load up those first two lines, including putting Tavares on the wing so O’Reilly can play at his natural position, and blitzkrieg the Lightning.
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Goalie Injury Report Raises Eyebrows
The reason for that are the two names on this morning’s injury report that stood out the most – goalies Ilya Samsonov and Matt Murray. It seems Murray has been injured all season, with adductor and ankle issues, but this latest issue is with the head, and with a man with a history of concussions, that doesn’t bode well going into the playoffs.
Samsonov has played a lot of hockey – 27-10-5 this season, with a 2.33 GAA and .919 save percentage – and looks generally banged up. He’ll start the Lightning series, but we worry about him as the intensity rises. Keep your eyes on Woll tonight in this nothing game – that could be the future of the Leafs’ goalie situation. Woll has impressed – 5-1-0, with a 2.19 GAA and .933 save percentage. Could he grow into a secret weapon in the playoffs?
Remember, they are going up against a goalie in Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has 71 playoff games over the past three seasons under his belt. Samsonov has eight games and one win while with Washington. However, the Lightning are wobbling going into the playoffs – four straight losses, 0-for-8 on the power play in their 4-3 loss to the Leafs on Tuesday. And the loss of Tampa winger Tanner Jeannot to a leg injury for at least a chunk of the Leafs' series is huge.
How to Bet on The Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup Playoffs
What do the futures look like? BetMGM Sportsbook has the Leafs at 6.0 to win the Eastern Conference, after opening at 5.25 (6.1% of tickets, 2.1% of the handle). Only the Bruins are more favored, at 3.0 (49.9% of tickets, 66.1% of the handle). Tampa is at 9.0.
NorthStar Bets has the Leafs at 6.0 to win the East, tied with the Carolina Hurricanes, with the Bruins at 2.75.
PointsBet Canada has the Leafs at 1.61 to win the series, Tampa at 2.35. They have odds at 3.0 for this one to go seven games, and 11.0 for the Leafs to sweep the series in four.
The bottom line is that this is the best Leafs' playoff team we have seen in recent memory. The Lightning is a team of grey hairs, though when it comes to the NHL playoffs, they have the Stanley Cup rings to back it up. Plus, the injuries to the Leafs’ goaltenders. Keep your eye on Woll tonight and the injury report sheet over the next few days.
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