TORONTO — Craig Berube is messing with the rotation, and tipping his hand in the process.
If it wasn’t telling enough that the Toronto Maple Leafs coach tapped Anthony Stolarz for Wednesday’s marquee match against the Florida Panthers, that he’s going right back to Stolarz for Saturday’s tilt against the desperate Columbus Blue Jackets reveals which goaltender the Leafs are positioning as their Game 1 playoff starter.
“I liked his last game a lot. And I just think I can get him in another game here,” Berube said Saturday morning. “Just trying to find a little consistency here and move hm forward as we go along. I’m gonna have to split (the goalies) here the next two games, then we’ll go from there.”
In a season where both goaltenders have set career highs in starts and wins, Joseph Woll (25-13-1, .906) has been the busier of the duo, what with Stolarz undergoing a midseason knee operation.
But the more veteran Stolarz (17-8-3, .920) has posted a better save percentage and, despite never starting a playoff game, has taken hold of the No. 1 spot with just seven games remaining in the regular season.
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The tandem will share starts during next week’s critical back-to-back in Florida (Tuesday) and Tampa (Wednesday), two results that could well determine the Atlantic Division’s playoff seeding, and again next Saturday (versus Montreal) and Sunday (at Carolina).
While it’s too early to crown a Game 1 starter publicly, the job is clearly Stolarz’s to lose.
The crease stays the same, but multiple injuries have forced Berube to change a lineup that has won three straight games.
Jake McCabe crashed shoulder-first into the end-board late in Wednesday’s win after a check from Carter Verhaeghe. He went to the dressing room and hasn’t practised since.
Berube has been strategically vague about the nature, source, and severity of McCabe’s injury. The playoffs are around the corner. We’ve entered peak secrecy.
The Leafs are shuffling their defence pairs, and the patient Philippe Myers will get an opportunity to play, but the McCabe’s absence is significant.
The hard-nosed McCabe, 31, forms one of the NHL’s premier shutdown pairs with Chris Tanev. His time on ice (21:31) leads the team, and he eats up valuable time on the penalty kill.
“He brings a lot,” Berube said. “It’s hard to sit here and say, ‘Oh, we can replace him.’ It’s pretty tough.”
If McCabe is unavailable to start the postseason, the hole he’d open in Toronto’s blueline would be difficult to fill.
“A heart-and-soul-type of player,” John Tavares says. “He just brings that type of emotion and passion that guys feed off of and is really important for any hockey team — but certainly for us here.”
The injury to David Kämpf, also banged up against the Panthers, creates an opportunity for Nick Robertson to rejoin the bottom six after sitting out three games, including two in his home state of California.
“Nicky’s fine. He wants to know what he needs to do better, and we talk about things,” Berube says.
One of those things is discipline.
Robertson had committed four needless minor penalties over his past six games and has gone pointless in his past five.
The 23-year-old is on the bubble of a healthy playoff lineup. He’ll get a look Saturday on a fourth line centred by Pontus Holmberg.
“It’s my job to come in and make the most of this opportunity — because I want to play,” Robertson said.
“You know, I wanted to play every game this year. I wanted to be an impactful player. Wherever I am sliding in the lineup, I gotta use that, keep positive and take the opportunity I have tonight. I’m excited to play.”
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One-Timers: Elvis Merzlikins gets the start in the Columbus net…. Ex-Leaf James van Riemsdyk — a healthy scratch since March 24 and goal-free since Feb. 27 — draws into the Blue Jackets lineup. Is this the veteran’s final game in Toronto?… Oliver Ekman-Larsson flips to his natural left side and be leaned on more defensively with McCabe out. “I’m ready for whatever,” the veteran says…. Tanev is one away from setting the Leafs’ all-time single-season shot-block record. His 177th block, which will no doubt come Saturday, will leapfrog him over Carl Gunnarsson.
Maple Leafs projected lineup Saturday vs. Blue Jackets
Knies – Matthews – Marner
McMann – Tavares – Nylander
Laughton – Domi – Järnkrok
Lorentz – Holmberg – Robertson
Ekman-Larsson – Tanev
Rielly – Carlo
Benoit – Myers
Stolarz starts
Woll
