Tavares limps off the ice after awkward fall at Leafs practice

The Maple Leafs practised at Ford Performance Centre on Wednesday. 

John Tavares got tangled up with Chris Tanev and fell awkwardly late in Wednesday's practice. The 34-year-old centre was slow to his feet and immediately left the ice. 

"Obviously scared," said linemate William Nylander of his initial reaction. "I don't know what happened. I didn't even see it, so I'm going to go talk to him now and see what's up."

Tavares walked to the dressing room with a noticeable limp. 

"He's being evaluated," said head coach Craig Berube. "He has been a great player for us, for sure, in a lot of areas. Hopefully, he is okay."

Tavares is second on the team with 20 goals and third in scoring with 42 points. 

"He's had an amazing year," said winger Mitch Marner. "Very important, especially with Auston [Matthews] being injured and being out for a little while. He's been great in all three zones and it's been fun to watch."

Tavares has only missed one game, due to illness, this season. He's only missed 15 regular-season games during his seven years in Toronto. 

"John's been about as consistent as you can get throughout his whole tenure here," said defenceman Jake McCabe. "He's a steadying presence for our dressing room and on the ice, obviously, with this play."

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McCabe practised fully on Wednesday while skating in his regular spot beside Tanev. 

"It felt great to be back out there with the fellas," he said. 

McCabe has skated every day so far this week and participated in some drills during Monday's practice. Will the 31-year-old play against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday? 

"It's a coach's decision," he said. "I'm not going to make any lineup decisions for him."

"He had a good practice and looked fine," Berube said. "We will see how he is tomorrow."

McCabe was dazed following a fight with Philadelphia Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway on Jan. 5. 

"Unfortunate," he said. "We've all watched plenty [of] games and seen situations like that and unfortunately I was the one that took the brutal end of it."

McCabe has missed the last four games. He also missed five games earlier this season after taking a puck to the side of the head in Tampa on Nov. 30. Despite experiencing two head-related injuries in short order, McCabe doesn't plan to alter his gritty approach on the ice. 

"I don't really operate like that, personally," he said. "I understand the risks of this game, and they take really good care of us here. So taking every precaution needed to make sure I'm safe and cleared to go."

The Leafs have lost three of four games since McCabe got hurt. 

"Him and Tanny as a shutdown pair have done a great job for us, penalty killing, just stabilizing the team at times," Berube said. "Very good guy in the locker room, on the bench, vocal, you know, so we miss him, for sure, when he's out of the lineup. He does a lot of good things for us."

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The Leafs have dropped three straight in regulation for the first time this season with the last two defeats coming on home ice. During Saturday's 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks and Tuesday's 4-1 setback against the Dallas Stars, some fans inside Scotiabank Arena booed the home team. 

"It's frustrating losing, so I think we feel the same way," said defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. 

"They do it in every rink, don't they?" Berube noted. "I mean, it's part of the game. They pay good money and they come to see hockey, and they want to see us win, so that's the way it goes."

The Leafs remain in first place in the Atlantic Division although their lead on the Florida Panthers is now down to one point. 

Marner mentioned after Saturday's loss that he felt the team played well against the Canucks. How does he handle the boos? 

"Just try to ignore it," he said in his first media session since Saturday's eyebrow-raising comment. "We're just trying to do our job out there and go out and put together a full 60."

"It doesn't really matter if they boo," said Nylander. "We know we're a good team so, yeah."

This is only the second time the Leafs have dropped three straight in regulation in the last three seasons (since 2022-23). 

"We're going through adversity right now," acknowledged Matthews, who is in his first season as captain. "As much as we prefer not to go through that, it's necessary sometimes. And these are the kind of moments where we've got to come together even more and stick with each other and work our way out of it. So that's really all we can do. That's the mindset."

"I think all good teams need to go through some stretch where everything's not clicking," Nylander said. "Good teams find their way out of this. And, I mean, it's only been three games so what's the big deal, really?"

But what has to change moving forward? 

"We've just got to be more connected, be better on the forecheck," said Nylander. "I mean, just overall, I think entire game's just got to be better."

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Nylander leads the Leafs with 24 goals, but has scored just once in the last 11 games. The smooth-skating winger broke into a smile when asked about the dry spell. 

"How many games ago did I score?" 

Nylander potted one in Raleigh during last Thursday's loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, so his current goal drought is actually only two games. 

"Just got to shoot," Nylander continued. "I mean, sometimes it happens. It is what it is. You just want to get back to creating chances every night. If it's not going in, it's not going in, but at least you're creating and that's what I want to get back to."

Nylander followed up a four-shot game in Raleigh with consecutive two-shot efforts against the Canucks and Stars. 

"I go back to the Carolina game," Berube said. "I thought in that first period he was really explosive in that game and on top of things. Just getting him back to more consistency with that."

Nylander averaged 3.6 shots per game in the first 34 games this season. In the last 11 games, he is averaging just 2.3 shots on net. 

Berube sees a dip in confidence. Does Nylander feel that?  

"Maybe in some opportunities where I would be shooting the puck, I'm deciding to pass or something like that," he said. "But other than that, I don't really feel like that's what's gone."

Berube is pushing Nylander to up his work rate. 

"And when he has opportunity, shoot the puck," the coach said. "He's got a great shot. He had a post last night on the power play, but he's got to shoot. And he's got to just stay involved in the game a little bit longer than he is. Just working your way out of it. Just like our whole team, you know, offensively, we've got to keep working and got to stay on it. We need second and third effort everywhere. This league's a second and third effort league, and this time of year it gets hard. We all know that. We need second and third effort."

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Berube made a point of speaking with third-line centre Max Domi on the ice before practice began. 

"Just talk about staying in battles longer and using his body and physicality a little bit more in our own zone, killing plays, and in the offensive zone too, winning those battles," Berube said of his message. "He's a strong guy. He's got good skill. I like the way he's skating right now, and he's got to keep skating and attacking and shooting and being direct. You know, that was really what we talked about."

Domi has just three goals this season, which all came in a three-game stretch in mid-December. Since then he's gone 12 straight games without a goal. 

"Sometimes offensive players, when things aren't going their way, they're not scoring, they tend to stop working a lot of times," Berube noted. "Stop the second and third effort. You've got to continue to do that stuff. Like, you can't wait for opportunities. You've got to go get them. You've got to earn them. It's like bounces. Last night we missed on some, we didn't get the bounces, right? But you've got to work for them. You've got to create your own luck."

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After sitting out Tuesday's game, veteran winger Max Pacioretty skated on the second line beside Tavares and Nylander during practice. The 36-year-old has been a healthy scratch in two of the last three games. 

"He's been a player that has been injured for the last couple of years and missed a lot of hockey, and this has been a lot of hockey for him this year," Berube said. "I think it's caught up to him a little bit."

Pacioretty has five goals and seven assists in 30 games this season. He's gone six straight games without hitting the scoresheet. 

"We get a little reset here and there with him not playing a game," Berube said. "But he's done a lot of good things. I think he's been physical, scored some goals, and I think he can score more. If he gets at the net a little bit more and keeps that physicality up, he's a hard player to play against. He's been a good player for us for a lot of this year."

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The Leafs are running with a five-forward alignment on the top power-play unit right now with Marner as the quarterback. 

"It's a little different," Marner said. "Obviously you've got to read the play a little better and try to, I think in some instances, cheat for defence a little more."

The Leafs allowed a shorthanded goal during last Thursday's loss to Carolina, which led Berube and assistant coach Marc Savard to go back to a traditional look with defenceman Morgan Rielly at the top of the umbrella for Saturday's game. But after an 0/3 outing against the Canucks, it was back to five forwards for Tuesday's tilt with the Stars.

"It has been dangerous," Marner said of the unit. "We're trying to do the right thing when the puck does get turned over and going down in our zone. But moving the puck well, getting shots around the net, a couple good tips, you know, a couple posts off that."

The Leafs failed to convert on a couple chances against the Stars, but did hit a couple posts on their first opportunity on Tuesday. 

Marner is third on the team with five power-play goals this season. 

"He's not afraid to shoot it," Berube noted. "And we need shots from the top. That's important on a power play. I mean, look at their goal last night ... They shoot from the top and it goes off a guy [Mavrik Bourque] and goes in the net. Goals go in when you shoot pucks and you're around the net. Bottom line. We got to do a better job of that 5-on-5 and on our power play."

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Joseph Woll allowed four goals on 23 shots during Tuesday's loss to the Stars while watching close friend Jake Oettinger turn aside 27 of 28 at the other end.  

"Otter played a good game," a stuffed-up sounding Woll said after the game. "Had some good chances and he stood tall when he had too. A couple bad breaks on our part so I think we just have to turn the page and move forward and focus on the next game."

Woll also took the loss in his previous start in Raleigh. This is only the second time he's lost consecutive games this season. What's the key to snapping a losing streak? 

"Trying to have as short of a mind as you can and just focusing on now and coming into practice and having a good day," Woll said. 

Woll stayed out for extra work with goaltending coach Curtis Sanford at the end of practice on Wednesday. He's usually off quickly at the end of practice when he's starting the next day. 

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Lines at Wednesday's practice: 

Knies - Matthews - Marner
Pacioretty - Tavares - Nylander
McMann - Domi - Robertson
Lorentz - Kampf - Holmberg
Dewar, Reaves 

McCabe - Tanev 
Rielly - Myers 
Ekman-Larsson - Timmins
Benoit - Hakanpää

Hildeby & Woll