FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The Auston Matthews target return game has been shifted to Saturday in Tampa Bay.
While the Toronto Maple Leafs superstar indicated Wednesday’s showdown against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers as his possible return date, Matthews will miss a ninth consecutive game due to his undisclosed upper-body injury.
Saturday remains an option, at which his lingering “day to day” ailment will have stretched to 27 days.
“He had a real good practice yesterday. But he’s been off a while, and getting into a full practice was really important. But I think, both him and I and the organization feel like he needs a little bit more to be ready to go,” head coach Craig Berube said Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., following Matthews’ participation in a full morning skate.
“It’s not a healing thing. He’s feeling good. It’s more (about) stamina and getting up to speed and making sure he’s ready. You don’t want to rush anybody. You want them to feel comfortable, make sure they’re ready to go.”
As Matthews himself said Tuesday: “I might need maybe one or two [practices]to really get my legs and lungs back under me.”
Lessening the urgency for Matthews’ services is the fact that the injury-plagued Maple Leafs have ripped off a 7-1 run in his absence and have established a three-point lead in the Atlantic Division, with a game in hand over the Panthers.
Matthews’ absence from the top power-play unit has given multiple forwards a look.
On Wednesday, the skilled Alex Nylander will fill that hole, partly because of his right shot gives Toronto a different look.
“He’s definitely got the ability to score goals in that slot area and make plays,” Berube said.
The Maple Leafs are catching the Panthers struggling.
Even though Florida has lost four straight and six of its past seven, Toronto is gearing up for a difficult test from a notoriously physical squad.
“Very tough, whether they had losses or not. It’s a real good team,” Berube said.
“They play to a certain identity, night in and night out, and it’s a battle, and it’s going to be a hard game. We know that.”
One-Timers: Matthew Knies (upper body) ditched the red, no-contact sweater for morning skate. A positive sign that he, too, could be a possibility Saturday…. Depth defenceman Dakota Mermis has been sent to the AHL Marlies for a six-day, three-game conditioning loan…. Anthony Stolarz will face his old pal Sergei Bobrovsky in the starter’s matchup.
Maple Leafs’ projected lineup Wednesday in Florida:
McMann – Tavares – Marner
Robertson – Holmberg – W. Nylander
Grebenkin – Minten – A. Nylander
Steeves – Dewar – Lorentz
Rielly – Ekman-Larsson
McCabe – Tanev
Benoit – Timmins
Stolarz starts
Woll
