The Maple Leafs still have a great deal to accomplish with two games left in the regular season.
Auston Matthews is two goals from 60 on the season, though he’s on a season-long five-game goal-scoring slump. Mitch Marner is three points away from his first 100-point season. In the bigger picture, the Leafs are one point away from clinching home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
“It’s important because coaches get matchups,” veteran forward Jason Spezza said. “If you find yourself in deciding games, it’s at home. As teams, you set small goals, and we’ve set a goal to try to get home ice.”
They can do that by getting a single point Tuesday against Detroit or Friday against Boston. Or they can clinch it if Tampa Bay loses any of its three remaining games.
As much as the Leafs would like to put a check mark beside all those things, they would also like to get to the playoffs as healthy as possible.
“The reality is you’ve got to play the games and injuries happen in our game,” said Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe, suggesting he couldn’t protect his players completely. “They’re obviously more likely to happen in a game, but injuries can happen in practice. We’ve had a couple guys who got hurt in the gym this year working out off the ice.”
The Leafs are doing their best to keep everyone healthy. John Tavares and Timothy Liljegren were rested Sunday. Older players like Spezza, Kyle Clifford and Wayne Simmonds have been in and out of the lineup last month. Practices have been fewer and farther between. The team’s sports science staff believes rest is a key factor in players staying healthy, and staying more alert in games.
“You have to play 82 games. That’s what the schedule says,” Keefe said. “You try to do all that you can to keep your players healthy, but you still have to be competitive and play the games.”
Injuries were certainly a factor in the Leafs’ first-round exit in last year’s playoffs. Zach Hyman, Nick Foligno and Zach Bogosian were hurt in the games leading to the playoffs and probably weren’t at 100 per cent when they returned to the lineup. John Tavares and Jake Muzzin were hurt in the series against Montreal.
This year, Muzzin (undisclosed), Michael Bunting (undisclosed), Ondrej Kaše (concussion), Rasmus Sandin (knee) and Petr Mrazek (groin) are sidelined going into the final week.
Bunting was the latest to fall. The rookie-of-the-year candidate didn’t finish Saturday’s game against Florida after an awkward fall that might have hurt his leg or ankle. And while there was no official prognosis, the Leafs believe he will be back for the playoffs.
“It’s just next-man-up mentality this time of year,” Spezza said. “You’re not always going to be healthy. You’re not always going to have a full lineup. If you have plans on making a deep run, you’re going to use different guys at different times.”
That’s what Keefe has been doing, mixing up his line and his defense pairs. Part of it has been injury-related, and part of it has been making sure the players have at least some chemistry with different partners if the team’s needs dictate changes in the playoffs.
It is believed Sandin is closest to returning, though the Leafs would have to clear cap space to activate him off long-term injured reserve this week. A conditioning stint with the Marlies is also possible; their next game is Wednesday.
“We still have a secure home-ice advantage, and that’s important for us,” Keefe said. “We have an opportunity to do that on home ice. But we’ve got to take care of our players, like our decision to give John (Tavares) the night off. That was important for us.
“We’ll see where we’re at with guys, the salary cap being what it is. There’s not a great deal of flexibility there to make any real changes.”
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