Unhappy with his team?s performance in Carolina, Randy Carlyle will make some line changes for Saturday night?s game against the visiting Ottawa Senators.
?Obviously, we weren?t real happy with the lines we had the other night to tell you the truth,? Carlyle said after the game day skate at the Air Canada Centre. ?For us, this is a bit of a reset because of the performance we had the other night.?
The top line remains intact for this season?s first installment of the Battle of Ontario, with Tyler Bozak between James van Riemsdyk and Phil Kessel.
But the other three lines are different from the ones that played poorly in Toronto?s 3-1 loss in Carolina on Thursday night.
The Leafs and the Senators each have 16 points and are tied for third place in the Northeast Division. In their last home game, the Leafs had one of their strongest games of the season in a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers after winning just once in the first five games at the Air Canada Centre.
Carlyle?s lineup changes will see Jay McClement moving to the wing with centre Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin.
Winger Leo Komarov returns to the third line with centre Nazem Kadri and Clarke MacArthur.
Mike Brown returns from the injury list (he missed eight games with a shoulder strain) to play with centre David Steckel and Colton Orr on the fourth line, as Frazer McLaren sits for the first time since being claimed Jan. 31 on waivers from the San Jose Sharks.
Asked if it was a question of the team not competing against the Hurricanes, Carlyle had a simple answer.
?It?s hard to compete when you don?t skate,? Carlyle said. ?That was the No. 1 thing; we didn?t skate.
?One thing we?re trying to sell is that it?s a lot more fun to play offence than defence. If you can establish a forechecking game in the offensive zone then your team will feel real good about itself. You won?t see too many players complaining about playing in the offensive zone.
?But when you string yourself out (in the defensive zone) and make poor decisions, you don?t get into the offensive zone.?
Against the Hurricanes, the Leafs missed the speed, hitting and scoring of Matt Frattin, who remains out indefinitely with a knee strain, as does goalie James Reimer.
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