[Devils-list] Leafs may juggle lineup - Toronto Globe and Mail

[John Lopez]

Leafs may juggle lineup

By DAVID SHOALTS
>From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

Toronto - No one is trying to suggest the return of Garry Valk is the
Toronto Maple Leafs' equivalent of Joe Nieuwendyk coming off the injury list
for the Dallas Stars, not even Valk himself.

But Leafs head coach Pat Quinn is hoping it could be one of those seemingly
minor personnel changes that results in a domino effect Tuesday in Game 3 of
the National Hockey League's Eastern Conference semi-final.

Valk, who has been out for the past three weeks with an eye injury, will
bring eight goals and 26 assists from the regular season into Toronto's
lineup. But his value has never been measured in his statistics, although
whenever he scores in the playoffs it seems to be a big goal.

What he will bring to his former linemates, Yanic Perreault and Sergei
Berezin, Tuesday night is a commitment to checking and the speed to keep up
with the Devils, backed by an indomitable work ethic.

After seeing his team lose Game 2 after falling into confusion in the second
period, Quinn is looking for a little more balance in the lineup.

In practice Monday, Quinn put Valk back at right wing with Perreault at
centre and Berezin at left wing, a unit that has been productive at various
times during the past three seasons. Nik Antropov was then moved to left
wing on the checking line with Shayne Corson and Igor Korolev, which means
left winger Jonas Hoglund probably will be dropped from the lineup.

The hope is that this will give the checking line a little more offence,
with the presence of Antropov, give Perreault's line some grit with Valk and
take a little pressure off Mats Sundin's line to provide all of the offence.

"We hope to get more out of [Perreault] and [Berezin]," Quinn said of the
change that he stopped just short of saying was a fait accompli . "They've
had better days, and a lot of the times, [Valk] was their winger."

Their best days were two years ago in the playoffs when the line produced
the winning goals in four games during the first two rounds, with three of
them coming in overtime. Valk scored the series winner in overtime against
the Pittsburgh Penguins to put the Leafs into the Eastern Conference final.

Against the Devils, though, it's been a different story. Perreault was out
with a knee injury in last year's playoff loss to the Devils, and both he
and Berezin have not been dangerous in the first two games of this series.

Part of that has been Quinn's desire to match Corson's line with the Devils'
top line of Jason Arnott, Patrik Elias and Petr Sykora. With Sundin's line
getting the bulk of the remaining ice time, few minutes have been left for
Perreault's line.

But with Valk in the lineup, Quinn may not hesitate to send them out against
a line such as Scott Gomez's, which had four goals in Game 2. He also may
use Corson's line on Gomez and Alexander Mogilny, which means Perreault's
line could see duty against Arnott. Either way, it could mean more playing
time.

"[Valk] works so well in the corners," Berezin said. "He backchecks well,
fore-checks well. He's the hardest working player I know.

"Yeah, we had some great moments two years ago, and [Valk] scored that big
goal. I'd love to play more [against the Devils] but that's the way it is.
Whatever works for the team. There's always a hope for more [with Valk in
the lineup]."

Valk will be playing with a visor as a result of his injury and says it will
not present a problem. Then again, despite his history of important goals,
he is not planning any hat tricks, so instead of trying to see the puck
he'll be looking for bigger targets, such as Gomez, who spent much of Game 2
slapping around Leafs goaltender Curtis Joseph.

"Basically, [keeping Gomez out of the crease] will be our defence's job,"
Valk said. "As a forward, you can slow down his speed by getting in front of
him. You have to try and slow him down in the neutral zone.

"I'll try and keep it simple, get some hits in early. I remember how hard it
was to create scoring chances [against the Devils in last year's playoffs].
We have to cycle the puck around their defence, set some picks and crash the
net. That's what [Sundin's] line is doing so well right now."