The Maple Leafs may tinker with their lineup, as they face the Carolina Hurricanes in the last game of a three game home stand, but Coach Randy Carlyle is holding his cards close to the vest.

The club recalled defenseman Korbinian Holzer on Sunday from the Toronto Marlies, because of an injury to blueliner Carl Gunnarsson, who took the pre-game skate before Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Boston, but did not play. Gunnarsson is hampered by a hip injury that originally occurred during the lockout and sprung up after the 3-2 victory over Washington on Thursday.

Carlyle indicated in comments following the club’s morning skate that the injury is not serious and that Gunnarsson is being rested in hopes that the discomfort will be alleviated.

Forward Ryan Hamilton was returned back to the Marlies to open a roster spot for Holzer.

The 24 year old native of Munich, Germany has one goal and seven assists for the Marlies in 34 games and may see his second game of NHL action tonight. The choice of Holzer is a commentary on his steadiness as a defender and the short term nature of Gunnarsson’s injury, but is also indicative of Jake Gardiner’s lack of readiness to step back into the NHL.

The 22 year old Gardiner was sent down to the Marlies on January 30th after playing in two games for the Leafs and is still sorting out his game. He was -2 in a 5-1 loss to the Rochester Americans on Friday and did not register a shot on goal in the Marlies 4-2 over Hamilton on Saturday.

Winger Clarke MacArthur skated with the club this morning and is considered available to return. If that occurs, it is likely that he will supplant Jay McClement from playing the wing on the Mikhail Grabovski – Nikolai Kulemin line, allowing McClement to return to fourth line center, which would mean either David Steckel, Colton Orr or newly acquired Frazer McLaren would sit.

James Reimer, fresh off his sparkling 33 save performance against the Bruins, will make his fifth straight start for Toronto, who are 1-3-0 at the Air Canada Center and have been anemic offensively on home ice, with just eight goals in 4 games.

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A very interesting statistical breakdown from TSN’s Jonas Siegel, who shows how much the absence of winger Joffrey Lupul may be contributing to Phil Kessel’s scoring woes.

Lupul was immediately paired with Kessel after he arrived in a trade from Anaheim in February 2011. Kessel had just 36 points(19 goals and 17 assists) in 56 games before the trade and averaged over a point per game (13 goals and 15 assists) in the final 26 games of the season.

In 2011-12, the pair combined to have the best statistical year of their careers. Lupul had 25 goals and 42 assists in 66 games before a separated shoulder ended his season in early March. In the 66 games before the injury, Kessel scored 33 goals and 37 assists, but in the final 16 games, he scored only four goals and eight assists.

The 25 year old winger is getting his chances and has always been streaky, but with the Leafs having difficulty scoring goals at home, they need their most talented scorer to break out.

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