All Eyes on Easton Cowan as the Maple Leafs Tweak Their Lines for the Red Wings Rematch
Photo credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
It's Thanksgiving Monday which means that Easton Cowan's debut is set to take place for the Toronto Maple Leafs, so let's see where he's going to take the ice.
Fans have been anticipating this moment for awhile now, but they will finally get to see what top prospect Easton Cowan can do for the Toronto Maple Leafs as he gets a prime chance to make his mark in the NHL.
Atop the first line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies, there's certainly high expectations for the rookie, and he's being trusted to help the rather lackluster Maple Leafs top line offense who has been fairly cool to start the year.
But who else is going to be lining up for the team when they take the ice this afternoon?
Knies - Matthews - Cowan
Maccelli - Tavares - Nylander
Robertson - Domi - McMann
Joshua - Roy - Jarnkrok
Maccelli - Tavares - Nylander
Robertson - Domi - McMann
Joshua - Roy - Jarnkrok
McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Carlo
Benoit - Ekman-Larsson
Rielly - Carlo
Benoit - Ekman-Larsson
Stolarz
Primeau
Primeau
It looks like Matias Maccelli gets a chance to redeem himself in the top-six and perhaps a union with John Tavares and William Nylander will be a better fit.
Bobby McMann is the casualty of Cowan's debut as he gets shifted to the third line with Max Domi and Nick Robertson; a trio that played a lot of time last season.
That fourth line is going to be one to watch as both Nic Roy and Calle Jarnkrok are off to hot offensive starts and are looking to continue riding that momentum into Monday's game.
Defense lines up exactly as you think it would, and hopefully Morgan Rielly can continue his offensive onslaught this year, as he already has four points in the first two games.
They are also going to need to tighten things up dramatically against Detroit, as not only were they outshot last game, but the chances the Red Wings got were too good to justify the Leafs' sloppy play.
Anthony Stolarz earns the nod on the back-to-back as we get a chance to see what he can do as he looks for redemption against Detroit.
He needs to put in a strong showing to not only help out now, but give Toronto some stability thanks to Joseph Woll's indefinite absence, as he's going to shoulder most of the workload going forward.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are out for revenge on Monday afternoon, and their lineup has the perfect chance to make a statement and prove to fans that Saturday's game was a big outlier.
If not, then they have a lot to answer for come the end of the game.