Maple Leafs winger Leo Komarov was not on the ice for practice at Air Canada Center on Monday after being hit from behind by Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin in the third period of a 6-2 win over Washington on Saturday.
The 27-year-old winger felt out of sorts and departed the Leafs bench following the hit and underwent an examination in the locker room, but felt fine after the game and met with his former KHL teammate following the game.
Leafs coach Randy Carlyle shifted his lines in the wake of Komarov’s absence, with Joffrey Lupul moving up to play with Nazem Kadri and Mike Santorelli. Daniel Winnik moves to the left side to play with Peter Holland and David Clarkson, while Richard Panik has been inserted on the fourth line with Trevor Smith and David Booth.
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Maple Leafs 2013 first rounder Frederik Gauthier has been selected to Team Canada's initial 29-man roster for the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championship in Toronto and Montreal later this month.
The 19-year-old Gauthier played mostly a checking and penalty killing role for Canada's 2014 squad and has six goals and four assists in 12 games for the QMJHL's Rimouski Oceanic this season.
There could be as many as three Toronto prospects taking part in this year's tournament; Gauthier(Canada), 2014 top pick William Nylander(Sweden) and '14 third rounder Rinat Valiev(Russia).
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