For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter
The Toronto Maple Leafs opted in the offseason to pass on bringing back Frederik Andersen and instead signed Petr Mrazek with the intention of splitting time with Jack Campbell. That plan has been derailed by a groin injury that has limited the veteran to two games in the opening two months of the season.
Mrazek saw his first action last weekend on a LTI conditioning stint with the AHL Toronto Marlies and on Saturday he returns to the Leafs lineup against the Chicago Blackhawks at Scotiabank Arena.
"(Mrazek) is doing all the right things to get himself on track here.… Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He's healthy now, he's excited to play. So we're obviously hoping that we're past the injuries and we can build some momentum with them.…
The Leafs sent Joseph Woll back to the Marlies to make room for Mrazek on the roster and the hope is that he will be able to lessen the burden on Campbell, who has started 21 of Toronto’s 29 games. While putting up excellent numbers (14-5-2, 1.99 GAA, .935 save percentage), the 29-year-old is beginning to show signs of fatigue (14 goals allowed in the last four games) and also returned to his habit of blaming himself for every goal after the loss to Tampa on Thursday.
"Jack has taken the ball and absolutely run with it. We've felt even more confidence than we had in Jack coming into the season and he himself has got great confidence and great expectations for himself." Keefe said . "That's worked out positively, but we do need to get another guy here to be partnered with him and keeping Petr healthy is an important piece of that."
Based on practice on Friday, Toronto is expected to stay with the same lineup but will tweak their line combinations and defensive pairings. Timothy Liljegren will start the game with Jake Muzzin on the second pairing, while Justin Holl will shift down to the bottom pairing with rookie Kristians Rubins. After a two goal performance on Thursday, Ondrej Kase has been promoted to the top line with Michael Bunting and Auston Matthews, and Wayne Simmonds has moved to the checking line with Nick Ritchie and David Kampf.
Ilya Mikheyev participated fully on Friday, but it appears that his return to action will have to wait until some point during the Leafs four-game road trip, which begins in Edmonton on Tuesday.
*******
Lot’s of â¤ï¸ for the 💙ðŸ¤
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) April 26, 2021
Convo on Podcast.#theleafsconvo https://t.co/Xdn3CDLVCI
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact… button at the top of the page.*******