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Johnsson called up, Rosen gets emergency recall, Dermott ill |
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The Toronto Maple Leafs called up winger Andreas Johnsson from the Toronto Marlies and recalled blueliner Calle Rosen from their AHL affiliate on Tuesday. Johnsson scored his 26th goal in a 4-1 Marlies victory over Laval on Monday afternoon at Air Canada Centre and leads the club with 54 points.
Rosen was brought up on an emergency recall with Nikita Zaitsev’s uncertain health status and rookie Travis Dermott absence from practice, with the club set to play in back-to-back games against Dallas and in Buffalo on Wednesday and Thursday.
The 24-year-old defenseman played four games for the Leafs early in the season and lost the bottom-pairing battle to Andreas Borgman, but has played well with the Marlies (1 goal, 16 assists in 50 games) and skated alongside Connor Carrick at the MasterCard Centre.
Johnsson practiced with former Marlies linemate Kasperi Kapanen and veteran center Tomas Plekanec, while Matt Martin, Dominic Moore and Josh Leivo were extra skaters, which is a strong indicator that the 23-year-old will see his first NHL action on Wednesday.
“(Johnsson’s) had a good year. We haven’t had a lot of opportunity to give him a chance.” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said on Tuesday. “We’re going to have to sit someone else to do it, but we have an opportunity with three games here this week to have a look at him and therefore if we have a need for him at playoff time, we have an understanding of what he can do.”
Auston Matthews once again participated in practice on a limited basis and wore the red non-contact jersey, but there continues to be an air of caution regarding getting the Leafs top center back in the lineup. Leafs head coach Mike Babcock ruled out Matthews return against the Stars and it is probable that they would hold him out in the second of back-to-back games in Buffalo on Thursday.
That would make the target date for Matthews return either Saturday night against Montreal or next Tuesday in Tampa Bay.
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