Craig Berube is looking for a spark to the lineup as the Toronto Maple Leafs look to get back on track.
Easton Cowan will draw in for the first time in almost a month and will skate on a line with Bobby McMann and Nicolas Roy when Toronto takes on the Ottawa Senators on Saturday (7 p.m. on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+), head coach Craig Berube confirmed.
“I just feel like it’s time to get him back in now. I don’t want him sitting out. He needs to play. He’s a young kid, he’s a good player. Taking him out of the lineup, going back to his Seattle game, I felt like he was just a little overwhelmed,” Berube said.
With McMann dropping to the third line, Matthew Knies will be bumped up to the top line, and Nick Robertson will skate with Scott Laughton and Dakota Joshua. Calle Jarnkrok and Steven Lorentz will come out of the lineup after skating as extra forwards at practice.
Berube told reporters in Florida that the decision to sit Cowan came with the rookie hitting “a bit of a wall,” and the team winning three games in a row before the Olympic break.
“These are decisions I make as a coach. I don’t believe his development is being hurt,” Berube explained. “I believe he has improved this year as the year has gone along. He still has the swagger that is needed. He is a confident kid.”
The 20-year-old has seven goals and 17 points in 43 games in his rookie season.
The Maple Leafs were outscored 9-3 in a two-game road trip against Tampa and Florida, plunging them to the bottom of the Atlantic Division and eight points out of the final wild-card spot.
Before the Olympic break, the Ottawa Senators went 4-1 in five games, which put them back in the playoff race. However, a 2-1 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings in their return kept them five points back of the Bruins for the final spot.
Tim Stutzle was not in attendance during the team’s morning skate, but head coach Travis Green confirmed that he will be in the lineup. The 24-year-old forward was a game-time decision against the Red Wings because he was dealing with an illness.
Green also confirmed that Linus Ullmark would start in goal and that there would be no lineup changes.
Ottawa will need to find a way to get a better result against the Leafs after losing 7-5 in its only meeting this season. In their last five games against their Battle of Ontario rivals, the Senators are 2-3.
The Maple Leafs also won a first-round playoff series between the two last season in six games.
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