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Mitch Marner will be returning to the Maple Leafs lineup on Saturday night.
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And when he takes his first shift against the Canadiens at the Bell Centre in Montreal, he won’t be back on the top line with centre Auston Matthews.
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Marner also has a history with captain John Tavares, of course, and that’s how Marner will line up in his first game since March 7, when he suffered a high ankle sprain in a road game versus the Boston Bruins.
Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe has liked the meshing that has happened with the line of Matthews between Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi, and for now doesn’t see fit to break it up.
There was another factor at play in Keefe’s decision to not automatically reunite Matthews and Marner.
“The last stretch of games, going back to the Edmonton game (a 6-3 win against the Oilers on March 23), I’ve used John primarily as the top defensive matchup,” Keefe said. “I’ll continue with that. Mitch’s presence on that line enhances my ability to do that.
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“It frees Auston up a little bit more for his line, but when you’re doing something like this, you have an eye toward what it maybe could look like in the playoffs. In the playoffs, you know you have to be able to rely on more than one line. You want to be able to just roll your group and not have to overthink it. That is a step toward looking that way.”
In putting Marner alongside Tavares and Bobby McMann, Keefe will have William Nylander on the right side of a line with centre Pontus Holmberg and Matthew Knies.
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The fourth line of David Kampf between Connor Dewar and Ryan Reaves was intact at practice while Nick Robertson and Noah Gregor were the extra forwards.
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We should keep in mind, too, that Calle Jarnkrok remains on the sideline with a hand injury. Once he returns — and provided there are no further injuries among the forwards — we could see something different for Game 1 of the playoffs.
For now, Keefe likes the idea of spreading his top talent around. There can’t be too many other teams in the National Hockey League that have a player of Nylander’s ilk — a career-high 95 points in 75 games — on the third line.
“To have those guys on different lines presents some really good options and spreads out our depth, our scoring depth in particular, really well,” Keefe said.
No matter where he plays, the return of Marner will give the Leafs a boost, not only at five-on-five but on both the power play and penalty kill. He was right back on the No. 1 power-play unit with Matthews, Tavares, Nylander and Morgan Rielly on Friday.
The Leafs were 7-4-1 in this latest span without Marner.
“You take pride in playing every game and trying to play in every game,” Marner said. “When you are out it does suck and you want to try to get back in as quick as you can.
“But through this time, I think that’s how I tried to look at it, as using it as a benefit and try to make it work going forward.”
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