Columnist image

SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

| Archive

The Maple Leafs held a media availability at Capital One Arena on Sunday afternoon, ahead of tonight's game against the Washington Capitals.

Toronto Maple Leafs star centre Auston Matthews will remain in the lineup on Sunday night as the Leafs wrap up a road trip against the Washington Capitals. 

"Auston is feeling good today," coach Sheldon Keefe confirmed. "He got through yesterday feeling good so he's going to go again tonight."

In his return from a week-long absence, Matthews played 21 minutes and 40 seconds against the Florida Panthers on Saturday night and fired a team high seven shots on net. 

"He looked great," said linemate Mitchell Marner. "He was making a lot of great plays out there. He had a lot of great opportunities. I thought he was buzzing throughout the whole night." 

Matthews missed the previous three games with an undisclosed injury.

"It's obviously not the best time of year to be dealing with something like that," noted defenceman Justin Holl, "but I'm sure he'll be OK. He looked great last night."

---

Maple Leafs captain John Tavares will miss Sunday's game for load management. 

"It's an opportunity for us to give him a breather here," Keefe explained. "We just talked about the fact that Auston, through his injury, had a break and had some time away, but John hasn't really had that all season. We're right in the heart of one of our busiest stretches so he won't play tonight."

Tavares has only missed one previous game so far this season and that was back in November.  

The Leafs are wrapping up a challenging stretch, which has seen them play four games in four different cities over six days. They did not hold a practice or mandatory morning skate all week. 

"This is a tough one here for us today," Keefe said. "We'll have to dig in for tonight's game, which I believe our team will. It is an important game for our guys both in what it means in the standings, but also we haven't had a win on this road trip yet. Our mindset doesn't change with the fact we are giving John the night off. We're expecting the guys that are in to build off of last night's effort and get us on the right side of this." 

---

Right-shot defenceman Timothy Liljegren will also miss Sunday's game.

"He's played a lot of hockey and had some bumps along the way too so he needs a night off," Keefe said. 

Defenceman Carl Dahlstrom, who was recalled from the AHL's Toronto Marlies on Saturday, draws in against the Capitals.

Defenceman Jake Muzzin will miss his sixth straight game with an undisclosed injury. 

---

Top line left winger Michael Bunting left Saturday's game with a suspected lower-body injury and is expected to miss some time. 

"He woke up this morning feeling a lot better than expected, frankly, based on how he was feeling yesterday," Keefe said. "So, it's a really good sign for us, but we won't know more on him until we get home and get him a chance to get looked at."

"His spirits are OK," said Holl. "He's frustrated. What he said is, 'It's a bad time of year to have something like this happen,' which is true, but we don't know what the severity is so everyone's fingers are crossed."

Bunting will miss his first game of the season on Sunday night. 

"It's a big loss for us," Keefe acknowledged. "He's a unique player for our group with his skill-set and his energy and his attitude that he plays with. We've grown to really appreciate what he does. He brings a lot to our group."

Forwards David Kampf, and Alexander Kerfoot, and defencemen Morgan Rielly and T.J. Brodie are the only Leafs to suit up in every game so far this season. 

---

After Bunting left Saturday's game, forward William Nylander filled in well on the top line alongside Matthews and Marner. 

"We adjusted well," said Matthews. "Obviously, we're really familiar with Will. I've played with him lots. Mitch's played with him lots. We're with each other on the power play. So, I don't think there's much of a learning curve there. We have a pretty good sense of where we want to play and where each of us are out there on the ice."

Keefe wouldn't divulge his lines for Sunday's game.