tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Leafs Need To Bounce Back Tonight

Tonight we will find out a lot about the 2012-13 Toronto Maple Leafs. After having been thoroughly dominated by the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night, the Maple Leafs must try to find a way to straighten out their game and give themselves a chance to win. Reports are that Leaf Coach Randy Carlyle will be making some line-up changes for Game 2. It would appear that Jake Gardiner will make his first NHL playoff appearance to replace the injured Mike Kostka. Carlyle should go one step further and replace John-Michael Liles with Ryan O'Bryne. O'Byrne has playoff experience and provides toughness on the back end. He also is a good penalty killer.

Up front it appears that Ryan Hamilton may be in the lineup. In my opinion, this is a good move as Hamilton was in the lineup in the last two games against the Bruins in the regular season where the Leafs went 1-1 and were every bit as good as Boston. Hamilton is a rugged forward who has some scoring touch and is a good penalty killer. Coach Carlyle should make another move, one that I know that he won't. Clarke MacArthur should be replaced by Matt Frattin. MacArthur has been slumping and Frattin is not afraid to take the body, has speed and can score.

There are some who confuse fighting with toughness. The Leafs had both Colton Orr and Fraser MacLaren in the lineup on Wednesday yet the only one to fight was Leo Komorov. If it were me, I'd keep Orr in the lineup and take MacLaren out. How about these lines: Kessel-Bozak-JVR, Lupul-Grabovski-Kulemin, Frattin-Kadri-Komorov and Hamilton-McClement-Orr. Carlyle wouldn't have a problem rolling these four lines and would have enough players in the lineup who will finish their checks and not be afraid to use their body.

The Leafs need to use their speed as they are much faster than the Bruins. Utilizing their speed should help them to have an aggressive forecheck. They need to test Tuukka Rask and put a body on the Bruins defense every chance they get. This team has exceeded all expectations this year. No one had the Leafs making the playoffs this year. For a young team, this is a learning experience. Hopefully, they have learned from the lesson of Game One. They have an opportunity to minimally lay the groundwork for seasons to come. It starts tonight. Anything is possible, just ask the Islanders.