Berube 'fairly confident' Leafs will have McCabe, OEL for Game 1
Published
Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said Thursday he is "fairly confident" the team will be at full strength for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Berube stated the defencemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jake McCabe and David Kampf will all be held out of the lineup for the team's final game Thursday, but expects all three to be available for the playoffs.
Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia reported earlier on Thursday that the Maple Leafs are expected to host in Game 1 on Sunday night.
McCabe and Ekman-Larsson have both been sidelined with upper-body injuries, with McCabe out since April 2 and Ekman-Larsson sustaining his injury against the Tampa Bay Lightning last week.
McCabe, 31, has two goals and 23 points in 66 games this season while leading the team in average ice time at 21:30 per game.
Ekman-Larsson, 33, has four goals and 29 points in 77 games in his first season with the Leafs. He is third among defenceman in average of ice time this season at 21:04, behind Morgan Rielly (21:23) and Rielly.
Kampf has also been out since April 2. He has five goals and 13 points in 59 games this season.