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The Toronto Maple Leafs were fortunate to dodge the COVID bullet, but their opposition was not as lucky, as the Leafs take on a slumping and short-handed Edmonton Oilers at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday. The game marks the second time that Toronto will play the Oilers in the last three games, due to the long December hiatus due to the Omicron variant.
Auston Matthews took to the ice for the club’s morning skate and deemed himself ready to go after a false rapid test kept him from practicing the last two days.
“I feel great, did not have any symptoms or anything,… Matthews said. “This has happened to me two weeks in a row with me.…
The game marks the return of former Leaf Zach Hyman for the first time since the winger signed a seven-year, $38.5 million deal with Edmonton, but unfortunately, it will be in a fan-less arena.
@sportsology and myself will be doing color commentary live during tonight's #Leafs - #Oilers game tonight via the @Colorcastapp. To listen and interact (on your iPad or iPhone only), you must download the app and look for the broadcast https://t.co/Uz5eH9IjKk
— Michael Augello (@MikeInBuffalo) January 5, 2022
NHL leading scorer Connor McDavid, forward Derek Ryan and former Leaf Tyson Barrie all were placed on the league’s COVID protocol list and will not be in the lineup, and veteran Mike Smith will start in goal for Edmonton.
With Matthews returning, he will resume his spot between Michael Bunting and Mitch Marner, Alex Kerfoot shift to the wing to make way for John Tavares along with William Nylander. Ondrej Kase will not play due to an unspecified injury and will be replaced by Nick Ritchie. Ritchie practiced on Monday and Tuesday with Jason Spezza and Wayne Simmonds, which could mean that Ilya Mikheyev will replace Kase on the checking line with Pierre Engvall and David Kampf.
Timothy Liljegren will not play and Jack Campbell will make his 24th start for the Leafs.
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The NHL announced the rescheduling of five games on Tuesday, two of which involved the Leafs. The league has shifted the game in Toronto on January 22 against the New York Islanders from Scotiabank Arena to the UBS Arena, with the Leafs home game being shifted to April 17, when they were slated to play the Isles in Elmont, NY.
Toronto now will play seven of their nine remaining games this month on the road, with only the January 17th game vs. New Jersey and January 26th vs. Anaheim still scheduled for Scotiabank Arena. It is unlikely that the games against the Devils and Ducks will be moved, since the Leafs play in Newark on February 1 and have already played in Anaheim in November.
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Lot’s of â¤ï¸ for the 💙ðŸ¤
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) April 26, 2021
Convo on Podcast.#theleafsconvo https://t.co/Xdn3CDLVCI
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