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The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to take advantage of a tired opponent in their quest to solidify their playoff position, as they take on the Arizona Coyotes at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday. The Leafs earned three of a possible four points with an overtime win against Anaheim and OT loss to the Canadiens on Saturday.
The Coyotes are playing their third game in four nights against Atlantic Division foes and won 3-2 in Montreal on Monday with a late goal by Jacob Chychrun. Arizona has slumped over the last 10 games (3-5-2), in part because of the injury to starting goalie Darcy Kuemper, but are one point in back of a Western Conference wildcard spot and third place in the Pacific Division.
Kuemper was slated to return this week but encountered a medical setback and after Antti Raanta got the victory over the Habs, the Coyotes will turn to third-stringer Adin Hill (2-3-2, 2.54 GAA, .918 save percentage).
It appeared as if the Leafs goaltending issues were behind them, as Frederik Andersen participated fully in practice on Monday and took his spot in the starting goal in the morning skate on Tuesday, but head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that Jack Campbell will make his third straight start with Michael Hutchinson backing up.
“It’s just part of the process, (Andersen) was wanting to get another skate in today and see how he felt.… Keefe said. “He’s been progressing very well and working towards a return, but not there yet.…
Andersen was placed on IR on Monday retroactive to last week and can be activated when he is ready, which means he could be ready for the Leafs next game vs. Dallas on Thursday.
The Leafs had three players (William Nylander, John Tavares and Justin Holl) that missed game action or practice time battling the flu, and Keefe indicated that all are feeling better but will be game time decisions. The club will have extra skaters in Dmytro Timashov, Pontus Aberg, and Martin Marincin in warm ups in case any are unable to go.
Toronto received a bit of favorable news on the out of town scoreboard, as the Panthers lost their fourth game in a row in Philadelphia on Monday. Florida trails the Leafs by two points for third place in the Atlantic with one game in hand.
"They present challenges both offensively and defensively that we're going to have to be sharp in. And it's a nice balance for us because that's what we're looking for is a nice, solid, complete game."
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) February 11, 2020
Sheldon Keefe in today's Morning Skate Mashup. #LeafsForever pic.twitter.com/fuhc9erO7k
The wild card race is also close, with the Flyers in the second spot at 69 points with their victory and Columbus at 70, but the Blue Jackets received some bad news on Tuesday, as All-Star defenseman Seth Jones had surgery on a fractured ankle and will be out for 8-to-10 weeks.
Carolina, Florida, Philadelphia and Columbus are all in the race and it will be interesting to see whether they will make a bold move like Pittsburgh made to acquire winger Jason Zucker from Minnesota to improve their playoff chances.
Whether that will that spur Leafs GM Kyle Dubas to make a corresponding move to upgrade on defense is unknown, but Toronto is in a vulnerable position with two veteran blueliners out long term. Dubas is more likely to deal for a defenseman with term left on his contract, but with so few available at this time of year, he may have to opt for the rental option or stand pat with what he has.
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Listen to today's @TheLeafsConvo, discussing the #Leafs OT loss to the #Habs. https://t.co/q7o0sTVaBU
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) February 9, 2020
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