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The Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning enjoyed an extra day off prior to Game 5 of their best-of-seven series on Thursday, giving each club a chance to catch their breath. That might be to more to the advantage of the Lightning, who need to regroup after falling behind 3-1 in the first round after a pair of late collapses. The last being a 5-4 overtime loss on Monday after leading 4-1 midway through the third period.
The Leafs practiced at the Ford Performance Centre in Etobicoke, ON on Wednesday, with a full complement of players including Michael Bunting, who served out a three-game suspension for an illegal hit on Tampa defenseman Erik Cernak. Head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated to the media before the club departed from Florida on Tuesday that rookie Matthew Knies would not be coming out of the lineup after impressing in Games 2, 3, and 4, and after practice confirmed to the surprise of no one that he will stay with the same winning lineup on Thursday.
Matt Murray working his way back from a concussion
He’s been skating but today is the first time we’ve seen him (Leafs have had the shades up before practices) @TSN_Edgepic.twitter.com/OAKVWXs9vP
"We're just comfortable with the group that has been working here and won three games in a row,” Keefe said. “Obviously his situation opened the door for someone like Matthew Knies to come in and do a terrific job for us. It's not an easy decision, because Bunts has played really good hockey for us and has been an important guy for our team. Really the message was that he will get back in, it’s just not going to be (Thursday).”
The line combinations were changed slightly on Wednesday, with Knies moving up to play with John Tavares and Mitch Marner, Alex Kerfoot replacing Knies on the checking line with Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari, and William Nylander skating with Auston Matthews and Calle Jarnkrok.
“My job is to be a good teammate and be a professional in all aspects,” Bunting said after practice. “I feel (the lineup discussion) that’s between (Sheldon) and I. I want to play. I want to be in the lineup. That's what I intend on doing in the future here. I want to be impactful, I want to play my game and do things that helped our team to make the playoffs. There is a little adversity for me here, but I've gone through adversity my whole life and I made it here.”
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The Maple Leafs will be one of four NHL clubs that will take part in the 2023 NHL Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden next season. The Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, and Ottawa Senators will be part of a slate of four regular-season games to take place from November 16th to 19th at Avicii Arena.
Toronto will play a pair of road games against Detroit and Minnesota and will not lose a home date at Scotiabank Arena because of the series. The games mark the first time that the Leafs will play NHL regular-season games outside of North America.
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