For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter
The Toronto Maple Leafs healthy scratch of Kasperi Kapanen on Saturday raised speculation of a possible trade, but head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated after the 2-1 overtime win over Ottawa that the speedy winger was sat for “internal accountability…. On Monday, prior the Leafs important matchup against the Florida Panthers, Kapanen revealed that he had missed the beginning of practice on Friday and that was the reason for him being sat in favor of Dmytro Timashov.
"I was late to practice on Friday and they felt like sitting me out was something that I deserved and I agree, so I've just gotta take responsibility for that." Kapanen said. "To be honest, (this happened in) my Marlies days. I've missed or been late to practice a couple times and that's something that I've been trying to work on and it's not me not caring, it's an honest mistake and it happens and I've gotta own up to it."
"I don't think it's necessary to make this a bigger deal than it needs to be. Especially in this case, (something that was) very innocent. It's just that it gets to a point where you have to respond for the sake of the player and for the sake of the team." Keefe said. "I'm hoping for a great response (from Kapanen). We're going to give him a good opportunity to go right back into the spot and play as you normally would. This is not a punishment or anything like that, it's just about trying to reset the player and try to help him grow and get better."
Travis Dermott also participated in the morning skate alongside Tyson Barrie after missing Saturday’s game due to illness. Keefe indicated that Dermott would be a game time decision.
The Panthers 4-0 loss to Montreal on Saturday was costly in more ways than just the standings, as top center Aleksander Barkov suffered a lower body injury. Barkov will not play on Monday and Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville was forced to shuffle up the middle, promoting Vincent Trocheck to the top line between Jonathan Huberdeau and Evgeni Dadonov and moving up former Leaf Brian Boyle to the second line and former Toronto draft pick Dominic Toninato to the the third line between Frank Vatrano and Mike Hoffman.
Toronto currently leads the Panthers by two points for third place in the Atlantic Division, but the Panthers have two games in hand. Frederik Andersen will get the start in goal after Michael Hutchinson gave the Leafs starter a respite with a 24-save effort against the Sens. Sergei Bobrovsky will go for Florida (19-13-4, 3.26 GAA, .897 Sv %) after having his four game win streak snapped by the Habs.
*******
New podcast out now! @MikeInBuffalo @TheLeafsConvo #NHL#TheLeafsConvo #TMLTalk #LeafsForever https://t.co/PzzQ6pJGXU
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) February 2, 2020