The Toronto Maple Leafs have already abandoned their new-look lines after just 1 game, leading to a frustrating lineup change ahead of their clash with the Flames.
Ahead of Saturday's Battle of Ontario against the Ottawa Senators, the Leafs had made some radical changes to their line combinations in an attempt to try to create some skill mismatches for the opposition.
The Leafs dispersed the Core 4 across the top 3 lines, with Max Domi jumping up to the top line to take Mitch Marner's place next to Auston Matthews on that right side. Meanwhile, Marner played on line 2 with John Tavares, and William Nylander was shifted down to the 3rd line.
Most were hopeful that the new-look lines would yield some solid results, but after suffering their 5th loss in their last 6 games, the Maple Leafs appear to be going back to a more traditional roster look tonight with the Calgary Flames in town.
In a bit of a frustrating turn of events, Mitch Marner was once again anchored to Auston Matthews, despite the fact that there's clear evidence supporting that the two players produce better apart.
Max Domi, who really stood out last week against Florida, has found himself back between Bobby McMann and Nick Robertson, reprising one of the most effective lines the Leafs have deployed this season. You can view the full lines and D pairings below, as outlined by the Toronto Sun's Terry Koshan's notes from practice:
The Leafs will be donning their green and white St. Pats jerseys in celebration of St. Patrick's Day, as they do every season, and have been breaking in their new gear for the past few practices.
The Leafs are in rough shape right now, having lost 5 of their last 6 games, but a win tonight against Calgary could be the catalyst they need to help pull themselves together as we approach the final few weeks of the regular season. The puck drops tonight, shortly after 7:30 pm ET.
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