May 6, 2022
Spezza to draw in for Game 3; Simmonds out
Jason Spezza will make his series debut as Toronto Maple Leafs face the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 on Friday night. Wayne Simmonds will sit out Game 3 after taking two costly penalties in the team's Game 2 loss on Wednesday.
TSN.ca Staff
Jason Spezza will make his series debut as Toronto Maple Leafs face the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 on Friday night.
Spezza skated on the team's fourth line with Pierre Engvall and Colin Blackwell during Friday's morning skate. Wayne Simmonds will sit out Game 3 after taking two costly penalties in the team's Game 2 loss on Wednesday.
Joey Anderson joined the team for practice, but was believed to be filling the place of Ondrej Kase, who was absent from the skate due to personal reasons, but is expected to be available for Game 3.
Kase is expected to skate on a new-look second line with William Nylander and John Tavares.
On defence, Justin Holl is expected to draw in beside Mark Giordano, taking the place of Timothy Liljegren, who dressed in Games 1 and 2.
Spezza, 38, has 12 goals and 25 points in 71 games with the Maple Leafs during the regular season. He had a strong series last year against the Montreal Canadiens, posting three goals and five points in the team's first-round series.
Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe stated the team needed to be more disciplined after handing the Lightning seven power plays in Game 2.
Simmonds was penalized twice in Game 2, with his post-whistle roughing minor leading to Nikita Kucherov's goal that resorted Tampa's two-goal lead in the second period. He was also given a two-minute minor for cross-checking in the third period, resulting in Brayden Point making it a 5-1 lead for the Lightning.
"I was a culprit," Simmonds said postgame. "I took two, they scored two, we lost by two.
"It stings."
Keefe also appears to have elected not to put Kyle Clifford back in the lineup for Game 3. The veteran forward was available again after serving his one-game suspension as a result of his boarding major in Game 1.
Jack Campbell was in the starter's net once again after starting Games 1 and 2, while Erik Kallgren appears set to back him up once again, with Petr Mrazek serving as an extra at the skate.
More details to follow.