Nylander among several Leafs absent from practice on Tuesday
After a hard hitting Game 1 that saw both teams doing their best to establish physical dominance, the Leafs were without several players when they took to the ice for practice this morning. William Nylander skated beforehand with Michael Bunting, but left before practice started. Pierre Engvall didn't skate at all and neither did Jack Campbell.
With a slew of fantastic performances from the Leafs, Nylander's excellent game Monday night was largely overlooked. He was fast, physical and worked hard for his chances. He may be feeling the effects of a shot he blocked from Tampa's Erik Cernak in the first period.
Pierre Engvall had himself an excellent game as well, and was a key part of the Leafs penalty kill dominating the vaunted Lightning power play. Engvall's best moment of the night had to be his hilarious manhandling of Lightning forward Brandon Hagel after Hagel startede an altercation with John Tavares. Even with my amateur lip reading skills, it was easy to see Engvall saying "Lets go" to Hagel several times. Evidently Hagel wanted no part of Engvall after that.
Campbell not skating comes as no surprise, the Leafs have been careful not to overwork their star goaltender all season. After his excellent night Monday, his absence from practice is well deserved.
Practices between playoff games are usually considered optional by most teams. Many players will be nursing bumps and bruises as the playoffs go on. Expect Leafs Coach Sheldon Keefe to play things close to the chest. Injuries during the playoffs are very rarely made public unless the player will be out for a significant amount of time. If an injury is even acknowledged, it will simply be referred to as an upper or lower body injury. We won't know for sure who is fit and who isn't until morning skate before tomorrow's game.
**Update at 1:20pm ET - Nylander, Engvall confirmed good to go for Game 2**
| POLL | ||
3 MAI | 648 ANSWERS Nylander among several Leafs absent from practice on Tuesday How would you rate the Leafs' performance in Game 1 against the Bolts, 1 being poor and 10 being exceptional? | ||
| 1-3 | 14 | 2.2 % |
| 4-6 | 19 | 2.9 % |
| 7-9 | 214 | 33 % |
| Perfect 10, baby! | 401 | 61.9 % |
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