Schenn declares open season on friends and former teammates
Tuesday Night's tilt between the Leafs and Lightning should have been a nothing game. Playoff matchups and home ice advantage had already been established. The Leafs chose to play a man short, resting Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, Mark Giordano and Ilya Samsonov, with Connor Timmins slotting on the wing. The Leafs played with only 11 forwards and 6 defensemen. On the back half of a back to back against a rested Tampa team, the Leafs gave their southernmost rivals all they could handle and more.
As it turns out, it was the former Lightning, Luke Schenn, who set the tone for the Leafs by beating the tar out of former teammate Pat Maroon. The fight seemed to give the Leafs some swagger as they spent the rest of the game standing tall against a greasy Lightning team. Asked about fighting his old teammate, Schenn gave the perfect answer, basically declaring open season on the Bolts right before the playoffs.
Evidently, having your name on the Stanley Cup next to The Human Eraser isn't enough to get you out of a beating. Schenn, and the rest of the Leafs it seems, are prepared for war when the puck drops on Round 1. That, and the fact that Schenn knows the Lightning inside and out, should absolutely mean he is in the starting lineup for Game 1.
If what we saw tonight was any indication of what Game 1 will be like, we're in for a hell of a treat. Can the playoff start already?
In case you haven't seen it, here's the fight in question.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 12 | 376 ANSWERS Schenn declares open season on friends and former teammates Will Luke Schenn be in the lineup for the Leafs for Game 1? | ||
| Yes | 360 | 95.7 % |
| No | 16 | 4.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
