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The Toronto Maple Leafs did not skip a beat in their return home, as John Tavares and Auston Matthews each scored twice in a 6-1 victory over the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Arena.
“I just think obviously we're deep down the middle.… Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said after five of his club’s six goals were scored by centers. “We had four good lines. You want to be deep down the middle. To me, that's a key part of a hockey team. You want to be deep in the back and real good in goal and that gives you a chance to have success.…
Matthews, who missed 14 games with a shoulder injury, scored his 18th and 19th goals of the season, along with a pair of assists.
Tavares tallied his club-leading 22nd and 23rd goals, Morgan Rielly kept up his impressive pace with four assists, Mitch Marner added three points (1 goal, two assists), Nazem Kadri had a goal and an assist in the Leafs second straight win, and the Toronto power play, which struggled at times during their five-game road trip, went three-for-three on the night.
What made the club’s offensive outburst even more impressive was that all four lines were scrambled after it was announced just prior to game time that winger Zach Hyman would be out of minimum of three weeks with an ankle sprain.
“(Hyman) got the slew foot there in Jersey and went into the boards, hurt his ankle, kept playing.… Babcock said. “He tried to go (Thursday morning) and we thought he was playing.…
Andreas Johnsson replaced Hyman on the line with Tavares and Marner, Connor Brown shifted to the left side to play with Kadri and William Nylander, Patrick Marleau replaced Johnsson alongside Matthews and Kasperi Kapanen and Frederik Gauthier was inserted on the fourth line between Par Lindholm and Tyler Ennis.
The 26-year-old has been an integral part of the Leafs penalty killing and as a linemate their best scoring duo and Babcock believes that Hyman’s energetic and physical style of play is what will be missed the most.
“He's a real important part of our team because he's so heavy. We don't have enough heavy guys and he's one of those guys. That hurts us that way to be heavy in the offensive zone.… Babcock said. “Someone else gets an opportunity, someone else gets an opportunity on the penalty kill and we'll end up being better for it.… The question before the Leafs is who will get the opportunity to replace Hyman over the next month. Gauthier’s insertion into the lineup requires Ennis to be flipped to his off wing and Par Lindholm to be much less effective on the left side and the big center has not made a significant impact, with four assists in 26 games and winning less than 50% of his faceoffs.
The Leafs have called up Trevor Moore on two occasions this season, but was a healthy scratch. Moore leads the Toronto Marlies with 16 goals in 25 games and was lauded by the Leafs head coach for his showing at training camp.
The 23-year-old scored the game winner and was pressed into service as a defenseman in the Marlies 3-1 win over Binghamton on Wednesday.
Another possibility is big winger Mason Marchment, who has 17 points in 23 games with the Marlies and would be able to make up for the loss of Hyman as a ‘heavy’ player.
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— Norman James (@NormanJamesTLC) December 21, 2018
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