The Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping to widen their North Division lead as they take on the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena on Hockey Day In Canada. The Leafs beat the Habs 4-2 at the Bell Centre on Wednesday and after a shutout loss to Edmonton on Thursday, Montreal trail Toronto by five points and will be playing their third game in four nights.
The Leafs begin a four-game homestand on Saturday, with three straight against Ottawa scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Head coach Sheldon Keefe stayed with the same line combinations and defensive pairings that won on Wednesday, which means Ilya Mikheyev (who scored his first goal of the season for the game-winner) will play alongside John Tavares and William Nylander, Pierre Engvall will be on the third line with Alex Kerfoot and Jimmy Vesey, Nic Petan will play with Travis Boyd and Jason Spezza and Travis Dermott will partner with Zach Bogosian on the bottom pairing.
Frederik Andersen will make his eighth straight start for Toronto and Carey Price will go for the Canadiens.
The news on Friday that the Province of Ontario has given the Toronto Marlies and Belleville Senators approval to play in their home arenas allows the Leafs and Ottawa to send younger players down to the American Hockey League.
On Saturday, the Leafs sent forwards Nick Robertson, Adam Brooks and defenseman Rasmus Sandin to the Marlies, who play their first game in Winnipeg on Monday. Robertson, Brooks and Sandin all played one game for Toronto this season, and the move was made to get playing time instead of being relatively dormant as a member of the taxi squad.
“The biggest thing is an opportunity to get these guys games,” Keefe said on Saturday. “Robertson is coming off an injury, he’s played only one minute of hockey this season. We believe very strongly that before long he will get an opportunity here, but we think the extra experience with the Marlies and also just to get back moving again coming off his injury will set him up for greater success for when it's time your does come. With Sandin and Brooks, guys that haven't played very much at all and they'll play a lot down there, and when we need them, they'll be in a better position to help us."
Forward Scott Sabourin and defenseman Martin Marincin were elevated to the taxi squad to take the youngster’s spots, but it is not expected that either will be stepping into the NHL lineup any time soon.
Keefe indicated that veteran Joe Thornton (out with a cracked rib since January 20) is close but not ready to return yet. It is thought Thornton may be ready to get back in the lineup at some point next week against Ottawa. Goalie Jack Campbell (leg injury) was seen on the ice for the first time since January 24, but it is not known how close he is to returning to action. The Leafs have back-to-back games against the Sens on Wednesday and Thursday, and it is possible that Michael Hutchinson will see his first action of the season in one of those games.
Jack Campbell skated at Scotiabank Arena this morning -- the first time we've seen him on the ice since getting injured Jan. 24 at Calgary. pic.twitter.com/Qujem03tRr
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