With the Maple Leafs and Lightning's top-six filled with elite scorers, the first round playoff series was bound to be about who's depth would prevail. SachdevaSonny breaks down the good and the bad of the Leafs’ oddly impactful fourth line:
Stepping back, it’s clear the bottom-six battle has been key so far. But zooming in on what exactly that fourth line has done shift to shift, on how they’ve been utilized by head coach Sheldon Keefe, and there’s even more to their impact on the series so far.
On the fourth line’s second shift of the game, Clifford lays the controversial on-the-numbers check that gifts Tampa Bay a five-minute stint for its all-star power play. That it wound up as a positive turning point for Toronto because of the dominance of the club’s penalty kill doesn’t render it a positive contribution, because it could just as easily gone the other way and buried the Maple Leafs early had the Lightning’s stars played how they have the rest of this series.
Following an early run with the original trio, Blackwell and Simmonds eventually saw time with Tavares, Alex Kerfoot, William Nylander, and Ondrej Kase. Keefe also used Blackwell alongside Kerfoot and David Kampf, Kerfoot and Matthews, Engvall and Kase, Engvall and Kampf, and with Nylander and Tavares. Simmonds, meanwhile, saw time with Engvall and Tavares, as well as Kampf and Kase.
In two of three periods, the Leafs were burned on their fourth line’s first shifts, and it wound up swinging the game. Overall, the fourth-line personnel contributed to a few good chances, particularly in the first. But that’s negated by the fact that they were a part of three goals-against, two of them coming off questionable decision-making after the whistles.
It was more than the goal, though. The next shift, Blackwell keeps the momentum rolling in the right direction, drawing a penalty while fighting off Nikita Kucherov to hold onto the puck in the Bolts’ zone, and taking a hit from Zach Bogosian to get it deep. His next shift, he puts in a quality backcheck to separate Bellemare from the puck and send it back up the ice.
The fourth line’s next shift comes right after Maroon scores a couple minutes later, Toronto desperate for a response with things starting to spin out of control early. Spezza and Maroon jostle off the faceoff and the veteran Leaf ends up knocking Maroon’s helmet off with his stick — he’s sent to the box, nullifying Toronto’s attempt at a quick comeback with another penalty kill to navigate.
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