Keefe non-committal on lineup changes for Game 6
Published
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said Friday he's undecided on any lineup changes for Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"We’re looking at everything," Keefe said. "We have a couple of things happening with some of our players in terms of injuries that will play itself out through today and probably part of tomorrow.
"We’re looking at what all our options might be."
Defenceman Mark Giordano and rookie winger Matthew Knies both left Thursday's Game 5 loss with injuries, but later returned to finish the game.
Forward Michael Bunting could draw back into the lineup for Game 6 after sitting as a healthy scratch Thursday. Bunting received a three-game suspension for his illegal check to the head of Erik Cernak in Game 1.
Toronto's Game 5 loss dropped the team to 0-11 in series-clinching games since last advancing to the second round in 2004 and 2-18 when leading a series overall.
Keefe said despite the 4-2 loss on Thursday, the team morale was high Friday ahead of their trip to Tampa Bay.
“As a coach, before you walk into a meeting, you're always getting a pretty good sense of where the group is at based on the volume of chatter or the energy of the room," Keefe said. "And today it was it was vibrant. So that's a really good sign.”