Maple Leafs running back same blue line vs. Bruins, despite defensive failures

The Toronto Maple Leafs will face the Boston Bruins in a rematch of last Saturday night’s matchup at Scotiabank Arena. The Leafs dropped that tough 5-3 contest, with former prospect Fraser Minten delivering the final blow.

Fast-forward to Tuesday night, and the Maple Leafs seek revenge by rolling back the same blue line. While the forward group faces some necessary tweaks, the blue line remains the same.

Here’s the Maple Leafs' lines at practice as reported by Mark Masters:

The idea here is rolling with the same blue line, expecting different results. At what point does doing that border on insanity?

Simon Benoit and Philippe Myers need to sit. They have been liabilities on the ice far too often. The goaltending hasn’t been good enough to bail out some of these miscues. So, a more defensively reliable option is necessary.

Perhaps it’s time to give a guy like Henry Thrun a shot. Even veteran Matt Benning could bring a little more grit than Benoit or Myers.

The fact of the situation is that Craig Berube somehow hopes Saturday night’s game was an aberration. A more focused group could produce different outcomes. Perhaps that’s right. But then again, how many times do you have to try the same thing before you shift strategies?

Robertson getting  look on Maple Leafs' top line

If there’s one move that makes sense right now, it's getting Nick Robertson on the top line. Yes, the guy that many of us chirped that would be traded all summer. Personally, it’s not that I don’t like Robertson.

It’s just that, theoretically, other forwards like Dakota Joshua had made Robertson redundant. Calle Jarnkrok, Max Domi, and Bobby McMann were all ahead of Robertson on the depth chart. As it stands now, Robertson has been the most consistent of all lately. He’s been grinding and battling. And he’s also given the Maple Leafs some much-needed offensive punch.

Robertson could just be thinking that this is his big opportunity to audition for other clubs. Even though he’s an RFA at the end of this season, he’ll draw a good trade offer next summer from a team that really wants him.

Perhaps the Maple Leafs will finally embrace Robertson as the player he was always meant to be. Who knows? The important thing is that there’s at least one guy pushing as hard as he can. Hopefully, Robertson will be enough to produce a different outcome on Tuesday night.