Brace Hemmelgarn-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs have fought valiantly after the injury bug heavily bit them recently.
Their record in their last nine games is 7-2-0, but the wear and tear of playing with such an injury-depleted lineup was starting to show. While the Buds’ play without superstar center Auston Matthews and other key players has been commendable, they must be thrilled to get Matthews and potentially left winger Matthew Knies back into the lineup for Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Matthews has been out of action for the last nine games after playing on Nov. 3 against Minnesota. Knies missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, and his absence deprived the Buds of a physical force and someone who gets to the dirty areas of the ice night in and night out.
“In my mind, I’m back and excited to play tomorrow,” Matthews told reporters on Friday.
Knies, meanwhile, took line rushes with Matthews and William Nylander, and coach Craig Berube said all signs point in the direction of Knies returning as well.
The Maple Leafs have, for the most part, been a dominant team in their absence, but their offense slowly but surely dwindled in the last four games. The Leafs scored just three goals in each of their past two wins and dropped to a single goal in their 5-1 defeat to the Florida Panthers Wednesday.
They also only averaged a subpar 26.8 shots per game in that span, and they were outshot and outchanced. The Anthony Stolarz and Joseph Woll tandem has had to bail them out at times.
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Toronto’s goals-per-game average is just 17th overall in the NHL at 2.95 heading into Friday. That’s significantly down from the Leafs having the second-best offense in the NHL last season at 3.63 goals-for per game. That’s almost a full goal-per-game dropoff. That’s unacceptable but understandable, given the Buds have been missing Matthews, Knies, left winger Max Pacioretty and right winger Max Domi, for starters.
The Leafs looked like a thoroughly mediocre bunch against the Panthers Wednesday, but they’re going to get a boost, emotionally and strategically, with Matthews and Knies back in action Saturday.
Their return couldn’t come at a better time for the Maple Leafs, which still are first in the Atlantic Division. That said, they are only one point ahead of the second-place Panthers with a game in hand, and they’re just four points ahead of the fourth-place Lightning, which have a game in hand on Toronto.
The logjam in the Atlantic means the Leafs have to keep the offense going, but with Matthews and potentially Knies back, that will be a much easier task.
With Matthews and Knies sure to play on the Leafs’ top line, the trickle-down effect will put center John Tavares and right winger Mitch Marner on Toronto’s second line, and that’s a good thing.
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Nylander is expected to skate on a line with Matthews and Knies on Saturday, giving the Leafs one of the very best first lines in the NHL. That will take the pressure off Tavares and Marner to carry the team on their back and instead keep up their strong play by outmatching their opponents.
Most NHL teams will do their utmost to play well without their cornerstone players. That effort can be sustainable for a few games. But the line between being a winner or loser in hockey’s top league is so thin that there’s no chance a team can thrive for weeks and months without their top stars. We were starting to see this from the Leafs after some impressive outings, but coach Craig Berube and the management have to be breathing a huge sigh of relief to have Matthews and Knies back in the lineup.
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