Although there wasn’t much to draw from Game 1’s even-strength lineups, Jon Cooper made an effective adjustment to his defense pairs in Game 2. Jan Rutta became a healthy scratch and Zach Bogosian drew in next to Mikail Sergachev, which meant that Erik Cernak, one of the Lightning’s top shutdown defensemen alongside Ryan McDonagh, went back to his familiar spot alongside Victor Hedman. That pair was a consistent force opposite the Bunting-Matthews-Marner line; it kept the Leafs‘ top line scoreless in around eight minutes head to head at 5v5 while carrying the edge in shot attempts, shots, and expected Goals (the latter was nearly 70% in favour of the Lightning in those minutes).
Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Tampa Bay Lightning – First Round, Game 3 – Preview & Projected Lines
