Marner returns to Leafs lineup after 'bizarre' spasms issue
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The Toronto Maple Leafs skated at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Thursday.
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Mitch Marner will return to the Leafs lineup on Thursday in Seattle. The star winger still isn't exactly sure what caused the lower-body spasms that forced him to miss his first game of the season on Tuesday in Calgary.
"It just kind of locked up on me for a day and a half," he said. "Kind of throughout the day of that Calgary game, it started really getting back to normal, and yesterday felt 100 per cent."
The Leafs cancelled Wednesday's practice, but Marner skated on his own. He was a full participant at Thursday's morning skate.
Marner scored the game-winning goal on Saturday in Edmonton and was on the ice in the final seconds defending the lead. The team then enjoyed a day off on Sunday.
"We had a great off day at the Nordic Spa," Marner revealed. "People think maybe going in the tubs or something was how it acted [up]. I don't know. It was weird. I'm not sure how it really happened. It was just bizarre."
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With Marner out, Max Domi moved up to the top line with Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies in Tuesday's 6-3 win in Calgary. That trio will remain together on Thursday.
"I thought they had a real good game," coach Craig Berube explained. "I liked Max on the line. Felt like he had more juice in the game so I want to keep him going."
Marner, who leads the team with 70 points, will slot in on the second line with John Tavares and William Nylander.
"I've played with Willy a couple of times, really a handful of times," said Marner. "Obviously we're both right wingers. With his skill set and his speed out there I'm going to try to really utilize that and get him in good spots with the puck in his hands with open ice."
Nylander will shift over to the left wing. Berube sees some upside to that shift.
"Just in his own end, I think he can be the type of guy that can take pucks off the wall on his forehand, get to middle ice, make some plays coming out of our zone," the coach said.
"You get a different look at everything," said Nylander, who is coming off a hat trick performance in Calgary. "I like playing the off wing a little bit more, so we'll see how it goes tonight."
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The Leafs power play scored twice in Calgary with Morgan Rielly taking over as quarterback on the top unit. With Marner back, Rielly will be bumped back to the second unit.
"Just a matter of fitting everybody," Berube said. "If you look at [Tavares] this year, he's been a very good bumper for us, scored a lot of goals. He's great at release plays and things like that, making plays from there, and Knies does a great job at the net, so I'll just go back to that."
Rielly picked up an assist on the Tavares power-play goal on Tuesday.
"Mo did a great job up top," Berube said. "I really liked his game all around."
Rielly is last on the team in plus/minus (minus-16) but finished plus-three in Calgary, which matched a season high mark. Shot attempts favoured the Leafs 23-12 with Rielly on the ice in 5-on-5 play. What did Berube see?
"Skating, getting up the ice, being involved in the rush and moving in the offensive zone," Berube said. "And on the power play, moving the puck quick, shot it from the top, just direct."
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Anthony Stolarz gets the start for the Leafs. It will be his first game action since sustaining a knee injury on Dec. 12. What is Berube expecting after such a long layoff?
"That's a good question," he said. "Who knows? I mean, we'll see how the game goes. But we've got to do a good job in front of him. We've got to make sure that we're tight tonight and we're eliminating their rush game. They have a very good rush game. We don't need to be giving those guys chances off the rush. We got to check hard tonight."
Stolarz has taken part in four practices in the last couple weeks. He is a self-described "perfectionist" who made it clear he plans to pick up where he left off earlier this season.
"He's never happy with his game," confirmed defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who played with Stolarz last season in Florida. "He's always looking to take that next step, I feel like, and that's kind of what I got from last year and even being around this year. So it's always good when guys want to get better."
Stolarz posted a league leading .927 save percentage in 17 starts this season.
"He was on fire," said Nylander. "He single-handedly won games for us. It's nice to have a guy like that back in the lineup. Hopefully he's feeling good."
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Asked how he planned to celebrate his second career hat trick, Nylander told TSN he was hoping for a day off in Seattle. Berube granted that request by keeping the team off the ice on Wednesday.
So, how did Nylander spend the time?
"I was watching that O.J. stuff," Nylander said. "Everybody on the team is watching it so I feel like I gotta watch it."
Netflix's 'American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson' is dominating conversation in the dressing room right now.
"It was the first time really watching something like that," Marner said. "It was bizarre. I was shocked at the end of it all."
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Nylander is up to second in the league with 33 goals, which is four back of Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl. Is he keeping an eye on the Rocket Richard Trophy race?
"I haven't really been looking at that," the 28-year-old Swede said. "I mean, just trying to play my game and try to score some goals, I guess."
Whatever he's doing, it's working.
Ekman-Larsson believes Nylander has "a pretty good chance" of winning a goal-scoring title one day.
"Just capitalizing on his chances and creating a lot of chances from nothing," Ekman-Larsson observed.
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Lines at Thursday's skate:
Knies - Matthews - Domi
Nylander - Tavares - Marner
McMann - Holmberg - Robertson
Pacioretty - Kampf - Lorentz
Reaves
McCabe - Tanev
Rielly - Ekman-Larsson
Benoit - Myers
Mermis - Timmins
Stolarz starts
Woll
Power play units at Thursday's skate:
QB: Marner
Flanks: Matthews, Nylander
Middle: Tavares
Net front: Knies
QB: Rielly
Flanks: Domi, Ekman-Larsson
Middle: McMann
Net front: Pacioretty