maple leafs

Matthews makes his return, Leafs vs. Panthers

Apr 23, 2022 • 12:02 pm

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The Toronto Maple Leafs enter the final week of the regular season with only one goal to achieve and will get some help as leading scorer Auston Matthews makes his return to the lineup against the Florida Panthers at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL on Saturday. The Panthers have clinched the Atlantic Division and are two points ahead of Colorado in the race for the President’s Trophy, while the Leafs are six points ahead of Tampa Bay for second place and home-ice advantage in the first round.

The Leafs are coming off of an 8-1 thrashing at the hands of the Lightning on Thursday and need to step up their effort against the club that staged a four-goal comeback in a 7-6 overtime victory earlier this month.

"We're here today, we've got a new opponent and it's a new day today, but the experience out there, that's lasting." Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said on Saturday. "We have to take that and be better as a result. The reality is recognizing that while you're looking at the big picture and you're looking forward to the playoffs, but you've got games to play here and teams are motivated for their own reasons and motivated to play against us. We saw a very motivated and committed team in Tampa the other night, and this team here in Florida does not give any team really an inch, which is why they are who they are in the league and in the standings. So we can't take a night off like we did the other night."

Keefe indicated that Matthews is feeling well after sitting the last three games with an undisclosed injury, and thinks that it could be beneficial to be completely healthy and rested going into what is expected to be a difficult first-round matchup against the two-time Cup Champion Lightning.

“Getting time to recover and rest is important. If not for the injury, we probably wouldn't have given him that time, but it is part of what comes of it. I think. Mitch Marner missed a good stretch of time this year with an injury and we see what that's done for him in how he's played since coming back." Keefe said. "He feels really good today. We talked about the fact that we play again tomorrow and that he could take the day but he really wanted to play tonight." Jake Muzzin will not start against the Panthers, but Keefe says the veteran blueliner is feeling better and may return in the second of back-to-back games in Washington on Sunday. Jack Campbell will get the start, with Erik Kallgren playing against the Capitals on Sunday. *******