The Maple Leafs were back at practice on Thursday and appear to have established how the lines will stack up against the Red Wings on Friday.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are coming off of a decisive 4-0 victory over their most heated rivals, the Boston Bruins, which improved their record to 7-5-2 on the season.
Surprisingly, even though the Leafs are barely over .500, their win on Tuesday has them sitting in second place in the Atlantic Division. The team is off Thursday night, but will return to action on Friday for an original six matchup against the Detroit Red Wings.
Unsurprisingly, the Maple Leafs are expected to roll out the same lineup they used against the Bruins in hopes of replicating that strong performance.
According to David Alter on X:
''#Leafs lines during practice Nov. 7/24Knies-Domi-Marner
Pacioretty-Tavares-Nylander
McMann-Homberg-Robertson
Lorentz-Kampf-ReavesRielly-OEL
McCabe-Tanev
Benoit-Timmins
Benning-MyersStolarz, Woll''
One notable decision yet to be determined is the team's choice for their starter in Friday's matchup with Detroit. Anthony Stolarz posted a shutout in his previous start against the Bruins and has earned the trust of his teammates, who are confident in his abilities between the pipes. Joseph Woll must be chomping at the bit to get back into the crease and show that he, too, can steal games for the Leafs this season.
Another key development is that superstar Auston Matthews will most likely miss his second consecutive game. Craig Berube also mentioned on Thursday that he's uncertain when the former Rocket Richard Trophy winner will be healthy enough to return.
If Matthews is unable to go, which is the expectation, Max Domi will have another opportunity to strut his stuff on the Leafs' top line, in between Matthew Knies and Mitch Marner.
