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TAMPA – If Sheldon Keefe retains urgent the appropriate buttons, the Maple Leafs can launch themselves into an enormous collection lead Sunday evening.
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Whereas the two-time Stanley Cup champion Lightning stay assured their playoff prowess will ultimately be the distinction on this collection and don’t look like altering the make-up of their beginning lineup, Keefe goes to start Sport 4 with Alex Kerfoot on first-line left wing with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner and take a look at Michael Bunting on the fourth unit with Jason Spezza and Colin Blackwell.
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It highlights Kerfoot’s a lot mentioned versatility and provides Bunting a distinct function that makes use of his pestilence. As a 5-2 win in Sport 3 unfolded, Keefe thought Bunting was not complementing Matthews and Marner as he had in common season.
“Bunts will transfer round a bit, play totally different spots,” Keefe predicted Sunday morning at Amelie Area. “We had Pierre Engvall in that spot to begin (Sport 3) and he introduced rather a lot to it. Bunts in his personal method will assist that line, too.
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“Spez had a great recreation the opposite evening and between the three of them with Bunting and Blackwell, whether or not 5-on-5 or particular groups, they’ll all make an affect for us.”
Keefe will make no swaps for his 12 forwards from Sport 3, thanks partially to Kerfoot’s potential to slot in anyplace.
“Footy has been the Swiss Military knife all 12 months for us,” Bunting mentioned. “We had been speaking and I believe he’s solely not performed one place for us, fourth line proper wing or one thing like that. He’s dependable.”
Bunting got here off a leg damage, proper into the hearth of his first NHL playoff motion in Sport 2 when Tampa got here out gnarly, beat the Leafs to even the collection. In Sport 3, Toronto responded, with no Wayne Simmonds and Kyle Clifford offering heavyweight bodyguards, that means the smaller Bunting needed to be at his agitating greatest.
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“It’s quick hockey, it’s tough, it’s proper up my alley so I’ve been having fun with it. It’s enjoyable to play at house and enjoyable on the street, to be the dangerous man within the rink. You must discover power in playoffs any method you may,” Bunting mentioned.
It nonetheless sounds too good to be true to the Leafs and their legions of followers, however they’re in place to maybe put the reigning Cup champs in a 3-1 gap for simply the sixth time in league historical past since 1993. Then once more, on three events since 2017 Toronto couldn’t even maintain a 2-1 lead, a part of their 5 failed first-round journeys.
“We’d love a possibility to go house 3-1,” Keefe mentioned of Sport 5 at Scotiabank on Tuesday. “You’d prefer to get a cut up, however after the primary recreation it’s ‘let’s get grasping right here.’ That’s our mindset at the moment.
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“However they reply very properly after a loss (the Bolts are 15-0 because the begin of the 2020 playoffs) so we’re anticipating their very best recreation of the collection tonight. And I’m anticipating our greatest recreation. I look again on the three up to now and we’ve achieved a variety of good issues as a group, however I don’t suppose we’ve performed our greatest. And that’s thrilling as a result of we’re up within the collection and we have now one other stage to get to.”
Keefe can also be retaining his defence collectively for Sport 4, Justin Holl staying in for Timothy Liljegren.
Tampa coach Jon Cooper urged his gamers to remain house Sunday morning, particularly these with Mom’s Day duties, although just a few got here for a morning exercise.
“We all know what we have now to do tonight,” he mentioned.
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