Two Leafs stars the only two players to skip morning skate following disappointing loss to Chicago

While almost the entire team attended today's morning skate ahead of tonight's game against the Buffalo Sabres, both Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner were not on the ice at all. Matthews is coming off of a three week absence after recovering from a knee sprain that he suffered prior to the All-Star break, while Marner did not have a break as he participated in the All-Star festivities. These are two potential reasons for their absences.

I know that these game-day skates are optional, but after losing games to Columbus and Chicago over this last 5-game stretch, you'd think that the players - even the top ones - would want to take every opportunity to get in some extra work, even if it's just light work.

If the Buds want to have any hope of beating teams like Tampa, Boston or Carolina to emerge from the East, I don't think having their top players skipping these skates is going to do them any favours.