EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers are loading up, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are healing up.
Looking to snuff their latest three-game losing skid and awaken a sleepy offence, the Maple Leafs are expected to welcome back not one but two top-six forwards to their lineup Saturday.
A fine way to kick off the club’s four-game western swing before the players break for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Centre John Tavares (absent 17 days with a lower-body injury) and left wing Matthew Knies (out 10 days with a bad shoulder) practised in full Friday at Rogers Place and should both see plenty of the Oilers’ best players Saturday.
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“Not playing sucks,” says Tavares, whose leg accidentally got clipped and dragged awkwardly by Chris Tanev’s foot in practice a couple weeks ago.
“I really just tried to narrow my focus to just getting a little better every day. Obviously, it’s led to being part of practice today and being able to push myself pretty good. So, it was very positive.”
Coach Craig Berube says Tavares’s rehabilitation is ahead of schedule.
And considering the dismal state of the Leafs’ production — three straight losses in which they scored just once per game — getting a 20-goal man in Tavares and an 18-goal net-front horse like Knies back is a source of optimism.
William Nylander, in particular, should benefit from having another offensive talent on his line.
Tavares seldom misses time due to injury, but Knies has already bounced back well once from an upper-body injury this season.
“That gives me confidence, that I came back strong from the last one,” Knies says.
“Hockey Night in Canada. Saturday. Here. It’ll be pretty electric. And I’m just happy to get back in the lineup and help these guys win.”
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Well, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — whose Oilers have won 11 of their past 15 — might have something to say about that. McDavid should also have a bone to pick after going a rare minus-3 in his team’s November road loss in Toronto.
For the rematch, Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch is stacking his MVPs on the top line, alongside the ageless Corey Perry.
“They’re both incredible players. When they play together, they have great chemistry, they move the puck well, they’re dynamic,” Auston Matthews says. “They’re tough to contain, so you just gotta try to keep them in front of you as much as possible. Defend hard. Takes a five-man unit out there to defend those guys.”
To that point, Berube is reverting to his most trusted shutdown pairing of Chris Tanev and Jake McCabe. (He had lefty McCabe playing the right side with the struggling Morgan Rielly for a four-game stretch in hopes of giving Rielly more stability.)
“When they load them up, they’re hard to handle, for sure. And it’s a hard workload for the line and for the D pair. They make you work for everything,” Berube said. “So, I think you’ve got to have two lines and four D, probably, to play against them when they load them up like that.
“I had Caber on the right for a bit. And coming off the (head) injury, I didn’t feel like he was the same over there. And OEL and Mo played together quite a bit this year. And we need those top four to be really good tomorrow.”
With Matthews sidelined, Tavares and Mitch Marner, you may recall, had a banner night head-to-head versus McDavid’s group in November’s 4-3 OT win.
The veteran is cautious not to give away any secrets to limiting the world’s best, only to say that it requires layers of defence and a full team buy-in.
“Everyone’s going to see bits and parts of them at different times of the game,” Tavares says.
If midseason malaise or injury woes could be used as an excuse for the Maple Leafs earlier this week, they have no business on a Saturday night against their coach’s favourite boyhood team.
“Anytime you play the Oilers, you’ve got to be fired up,” Berube says. “You know they’re going to be fired up and they’ll be ready to go, like always. So, the emotional part of the game is huge. And we’ve got to have that investment, for sure. Right from the start of the game.”
Berube says it once more, with emphasis: “Right from the start.”
One-Timers: Here’s a tongue-in-cheek Connor McDavid on catering to an eastern audience: “Guys are excited. We get the five o’clock start time, which is always nice. They come into our building, and we have to change our schedule around.”… Ryan Reaves appears to be a healthy scratch, which should negate any Darnell Nurse revenge narratives… Conor Timmins projects to draw in for the first time in 10 days… Jacob Quillan flew with the Leafs to Edmonton only to learn that, with Knies healthy, he was being returned to the Marlies… Team Finland’s Jani Hakanpää did not travel west with the Leafs and will continue rehabbing his knee in Toronto.
Maple Leafs projected lineup Saturday in Edmonton:
Knies – Matthews – Marner
Pacioretty – Tavares – Nylander
McMann – Domi – Robertson
Holmberg – Kampf – Lorentz
McCabe – Tanev
Rielly – Ekman-Larsson
Benoit – Timmins
Woll starts
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