Why Nick Robertson Is Coming Out Of Maple Leafs’ Lineup For Calle Jarnkrok Against Lightning

The Toronto Maple Leafs are making one lineup change ahead of their Monday-night matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Drawing in: Calle Jarnkrok. Coming out: Nick Robertson.

Toronto’s coming off a 2-1 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, where the only goal they allowed came on the power play. Despite often having one of the best power plays in the NHL, the Lightning currently sit 24th in the league, operating at 15.9 percent.

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Still, Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube believes they’re dangerous on the man advantage. And that’s why he made the switch.

“It’s a good power play over there,” Berube said. “I just wanted an extra (penalty) killer in tonight. And that line with (Scott) Laughton, (Steven) Lorentz, and Jarnkrok, it’s a good checking line for us, too. We’ll need that.”

Jarnkrok hasn’t appeared in the Maple Leafs’ lineup since Nov. 28, a 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals. The 34-year-old has four goals in 18 games this season.

Robertson has appeared in all but one game for the Maple Leafs this season. The only time he’s come out of the lineup was on Oct. 24 against the Buffalo Sabres. After that healthy scratch, Robertson went on a tear, scoring five goals and 10 points in his next 11 games.

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Since then (his last nine games), the 24-year-old has just one goal.

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Part of that drop-off has come because of Robertson’s decrease in ice time. During the 11 games after being a healthy scratch, Robertson averaged 15:46 of ice time. However, in the next nine, when he registered just one point, the forward averaged 11:21 of time on ice.

“I talked to (Robertson) this morning,” Berube said after Toronto’s morning skate on Monday.

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“He was playing in the top-six and doing a good job, but then you make changes. But I have all the confidence that he’ll get it back. To me, he’s lost a little bit of his jump and the tenacity he plays with. But at the same time, that’s a little bit ice time and getting the opportunity, too.”

Berube is making one more lineup change ahead of their matchup against the Lightning: Dakota Mermis re-enters the lineup, and Philippe Myers is being scratched. Below is the Maple Leafs’ projected lineup vs. Tampa Bay, with puck drop slated for after 7:30 p.m. ET.

Matthew Knies – Auston Matthews – Max Domi
Easton Cowan – John Tavares – William Nylander
Dakota Joshua – Nicolas Roy – Bobby McMann
Steven Lorentz – Scott Laughton – Calle Jarnkrok

Morgan Rielly – Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Jake McCabe – Troy Stecher
Simon Benoit – Dakota Mermis

Dennis Hildeby starts
Artur Akhtyamov

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