Another day, another game for the Maple Leafs to juggle their lineup.
This time it’s captain John Tavares and defenceman Mark Giordano who will be missing on Saturday night when the Leafs host the Ducks (7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+).
Tavares was absent from Saturday morning’s skate and listed as day-to-day with a minor injury. Giordano is away due to the recent passing of his father.
The Leafs have already played without Tavares, winger Mitch Marner (both due to illness) and defenceman Morgan Rielly at various points in the last week. William Nylander had also taken ill, but managed to play in Thursday’s overtime win over the Flyers.
Rielly is currently serving the third game of a five-game suspension meted out by the league for cross-checking Ottawa’s Ridly Grieg last Saturday. The veteran rearguard is appealing the ruling. Regular Calle Jarnkrok has not played since Jan. 24 after breaking a knuckle in his left hand. Fill-in defenceman Conor Timmins is out indefinitely with mononucleosis and also has not played since Jan. 24.
The absences mean that opportunity will be knocking for their replacements. On Tuesday, Bobby McMann — who had just two goals in his previous 26 games this season — collected a hat trick in 13:30 minutes of ice time, which was four minutes more than his season average.
Tavares’s absence saw Max Domi skate in his place on the second line. William Lagesson (24 games this season) and Max Lajoie (4 games) will be the beneficiaries of the openings on the blue line.
Backup Martin Jones will get the start in goal. Head coach Sheldon Keefe said the move was the allow No. 1 Ilya Samsonov to rest up ahead of Monday’s early start (1 p.m. ET) in St. Louis.
