TORONTO — John Tavares is back on the ice.

The Maple Leafs’ captain took part in a light skating session on Thursday morning at Scotiabank Arena, just hours before Toronto will try to eliminate Montreal in Game 5 of its first-round playoff series. 

It was exactly one week ago that Tavares was stretchered off the ice midway through the first period of Game 1, having suffered a knee injury and concussion in successive collisions with Ben Chiarot and Corey Perry. 

Tavares wasn’t around the team again until Wednesday, when he visited the practice facility to begin getting reacclimatized with the group and continue his recovery.

Getting back out there was another positive step for Tavares. And while he won’t be suiting up against the Canadiens, just having him around the rink has provided a welcome boost to the team. 

“Certainly his being here in person is a nice lift for the guys,” said coach Sheldon Keefe. “There's no real update, other than he's obviously progressing very well. He felt really good coming off [the ice]. Progress has been very good on both [the concussion and knee]. Having him back in starting yesterday with a little bit of a workout and treatment was big and then today, having him in the group, in the meeting, it’s a really great sign.”

Nick Foligno was also out with Tavares during the workout. The veteran forward has missed the past two games with a lower-body injury and is making progress, but won’t play in Game 5. 

Keefe said Tavares had been “trending towards” his return since the morning after his injury, when doctors were able to clear him of any structural damage to his head, neck and shoulders.

Tavares has remained in constant contact with teammates throughout his absence, sending supportive text messages to the club’s group chat before every game and appearing on FaceTime in the dressing room following each win of the series. 

Now Toronto is facing its biggest game of the season, with an opportunity to advance into the second round of the postseason for the first time since 2003-04. The timing of Tavares’ reappearance couldn’t have been better. 

“It’s just good for our team emotionally and mentally,” said Justin Holl. “We’re very happy to see him and he's in good spirits; he looks healthy. He’s got a couple of things he's got to work through before he's ready to go and in game shape, but it's really an encouraging sign to see him here.”

Tavares is known for being even-keeled, and that’s a mindset the Leafs hope to channel in the lead-up to Game 5. Despite what’s at stake, Toronto is trying to frame this tilt like any other it has played this season. 

“Our feeling is good; I would say it's just normal, professional,” said Keefe. "I think the guys are very businesslike. I think that's kind of the messaging for our group, is to not look beyond your first shift or our first period tonight, [and know] that this game is the hardest one to get. We are expecting it to be our best game in the series as we feel like that's going to be the effort that's going to be required.”

Toronto has outscored Montreal 13-4 in these playoffs so far, and Keefe has been impressed with his team’s overall defensive effort. He is looking for the Leafs to make a few improvements though, convinced that there is still more his group can give.

“Our play through the neutral zone, both with and without the puck, is an area for us to focus on,” he said. “I thought we had some real positive steps in that, but there’s a lot of areas we can do better at. We've done a good job in the second periods, but our first period, we want to assert ourselves better. And in the last two third periods, we were outshot [29-6], so that’s far too lopsided and we're not spending enough time with the puck. So, we can do better there, but our first focus is really on having a good start here tonight.”

The Leafs will roll out almost the same lineup Thursday that they had for a 4-0 win in Game 4, but with the addition of Rasmus Sandin back on the blueline for Travis Dermott. 

Toronto knows from recent experience how difficult finishing out a series can be. During the 2018-19 season, the Leafs had two chances to eliminate the Boston Bruins but still wound up losing their first-round series in Game 7.

“We talked about [not dragging this out], that’s what our goal is,” said Morgan Rielly. “I think you have to be prepared for anything. They're going to come out hard and be ready to play as a team and bring their best game. They've got their season on the line, so we have to be ready for that. It's on us to be prepared and play well and do our best to close this out.”