Maple Leafs Make Puzzling Changes to Lineup Ahead of Clash With Canadiens

Led by Matthew Knies, who backed up his controversial comments with a hat trick on Wednesday, the Leafs took a much-needed two points out of their visit to Tampa Bay.

Despite the win on Wednesday, when the Leafs returned to practice on Friday, head coach Craig Berube made a number of puzzling changes to his lineup.

Up front, Bobby McMann was dropped from the second line to the third line, reprising his role with Max Domi and Nicholas Robertson, while Calle Jarnkrok was elevated to the second line and took his place next to John Tavares and William Nylander.

Additionally, Scott Laughton will make his long awaited return to centre, albeit on the fourth line. The Toronto native has spent the majority of his time on the wing since being acquired by the Leafs at the deadline.

On the back end, Oliver Ekman-Larsson was absent from practice, leading to Jani Hakanpaa taking reps on the third pairing with Philippe Myers.

With Hakanpaa still on LTIR, he is not expected to play, as Berube has already informed reporters on Friday that the Leafs will use 5 defensemen on Saturday against Montreal.

As the Leafs head into their final back-to-back of the season, it will be interesting to see how long Berube's new lines will last, as he has shown a willingness to change things up on the fly this season quite frequently.