On Saturday, the Toronto Maple Leafs were without Auston Matthews as he was held out of the lineup at game-time due to a flu bug that had been going around the locker room. The same flu bug, which has been wreaking havoc on the team in recent weeks, also saw T.J. Brodie miss Saturday's game.
At practice this morning however, the Leafs got some good news as Matthews returned to his usual spot on the top line with Matthew Knies and William Nylander, signifying that the team's resident sniper will be good to go on Tuesday.
The combination of Mitch Marner, Matthew Knies and Max Domi showed great chemistry on Saturday, but on Monday, head coach Sheldon Keefe reunited Domi with Nick Robertson and Calle Jarnkrok on the 3rd line. The fourth line at practice featured Noah Gregor, Bobby McMann and David Kampf, with Pontus Holmberg skating as an extra forward.
On the blueline is where we saw significant changes for the Leafs, with Simon Benoit being promoted to skate with Morgan Rielly on the Leafs' top pair. Jake McCabe shifted back over to the left side after playing several games on the right side. McCabe skated with a Timothy Liljegren, who returned on Saturday after missing more than a month with a high-ankle sprain. William Lagesson was paired with Conor Timmins to round out the group as the team's 3rd pair.
It's possible that Benoit's spot on that top pairing is heavily dependent on the status of T.J. Brodie. If Brodie cannot go tomorrow, Benoit may get a huge opportunity to skate alongside Rielly after playing very well in a sheltered role this season - though Sheldon Keefe may yet toss the D pairs back in the blender if Brodie can't play on Tuesday against the Rangers. Some huge decisions lie ahead.
