The Toronto Maple Leafs skated at Bell MTS Place on Wednesday.
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After being unavailable to dress on Monday, Jack Campbell will start tonight in Winnipeg.
"It's kind of a day-to-day thing," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "He's progressed well. It seems like when he has time to recover from his recent games that he has bounced back and feels good, but it is something we have to manage."
Campbell hurt his leg on Jan. 24 in Calgary and the issue has lingered ever since.
"We have to be responsible with it as a staff and be smart with it and he has to be honest and tell us exactly how he's feeling so we can make the appropriate decisions," Keefe said.
Campbell aggravated the injury upon returning to the lineup on Feb. 27 and was forced back to the sideline for three weeks.
"It takes a lot of character to get through something like that," said defenceman Zach Bogosian. "He's a huge part of our team. His personality is great. He's awesome in the locker room and he's one hell of a goalie, too. We're confident with him back there and he's really stuck with it. The character side, people don't see what goes on behind the scenes. It's pretty easy to tune in at 7 o'clock at night and see us, but there's a lot that goes into it behind the scenes and Soupy's been working so hard in the gym trying to battle back. Obviously, when he's come back to play for us he's played extremely well, so it's been great to see."
Campbell is 6-0-0 this season with a .945 save percentage, but has yet to face the Jets.
Frederik Andersen is still in Toronto where he has a follow-up appointment on Thursday to look at his lower-body injury. Keefe said the hope is that meeting will offer more insight on the issue, which has kept him off the ice since March 19.
The Leafs have a busy schedule this week with another game in Winnipeg on Friday before a back-to-back set on Sunday and Monday in Calgary. Toronto has dropped the past three games that third stringer Michael Hutchinson has started.
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Alex Galchenyuk will get a look on the power play tonight as the Leafs look to snap out of a slump on the man advantage.
"He's had some shifts here and there, but looking for something a little more solidified here tonight," Keefe confirmed.
Toronto has converted on just one of 23 chances over the past 11 games. Despite the lack of goals, Keefe insists he likes a lot of the process of late and feels like the group is close to breaking out.
One issue is the lack of opportunities. In the last 11 games, Toronto has been held to two or fewer chances on seven occasions.
"It’s hard to mix and try different things," the coach said.
The Leafs, with new assistant coach Manny Malhotra overseeing the power play, have not hesitated to experiment with new looks. At the morning skate today, one unit getting reps featured Morgan Rielly up top, William Nylander and Auston Matthews on the flanks with John Tavares in the middle and Mitch Marner down low.
"We like the ability to mix things up and move things around a little bit and spread the minutes appropriately," Keefe noted. "For the most part this season we've had a two-unit look, try and get some competitiveness that way with one unit pushing the other, as well as just having players play with greater urgency and greater energy through the power plays."
Galchenyuk was taking reps with the second unit at the morning skate.
Despite the recent dry spell, the Leafs still own the NHL's top power play on the road, clicking at 34.1 per cent.
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The Jets are finally back home after playing the last seven on the road. The trip, which lasted 12 days, has taken a toll on the group.
"The boys are feeling it a little bit right now," Andrew Copp admitted this morning. "The time-zone change and the late games in Calgary and then an earlier skate today [at 10 a.m. CT because of the 6:30 p.m. local start], I think everyone was a little slow moving around the locker room and trying to get warmed up. It got better as we went along, thank God. The skate kind of gets you back, a sweat kind of gets you back to neutral a little bit, so we'll be ready to go tonight."
Considering the fatigue factor, coach Paul Maurice wasn't sure how much the last-change advantage would factor into tonight's proceedings.
"I'm not as married to the matchup right now and a lot of that has to do with our schedule," the coach said. "It's more important that I get everybody evened out than it is I get a specific match on any night."
This is the fifth meeting between the Leafs and Jets this season, but the first one in Winnipeg. The Jets took two of three games against the Leafs in Toronto earlier this month.
"In the Toronto set that we played, I didn't feel that there were a bunch of times on the bench that I got jammed into something I didn’t want," Maurice said. "They're more than comfortable [with] their so-called third line and with the veterans they have on their fourth line, they'll play those lines against your best. D-zone faceoffs, they're not worried about it. So, that would be true of us as well, right, so there's not the impetus from either coach to say, 'I can't win this game,' or 'I got a way better chance of winning this game if I get this hard match.'"
Keefe referred to the Jets as "the deepest opponent that we face in our division in terms of their forward lines."
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If the top two lines featuring Matthews, Tavares, Mark Scheifele and Pierre-Luc Dubois end up duelling to a draw then the bottom six may decide things.
"The depth of our forward group is a strength for us, and we have to use it," said Jason Spezza. "We have to be reliable, and they approach things similarly, so it lends to a great match-up and everyone being used and needing all 12 guys up front."
As Maurice noted, Toronto's fourth line currently features the 37-year-old Spezza and 41-year-old Joe Thornton, who have been lining up beside Alex Kerfoot.
"We've had some good looks as a line," Spezza said. "We've done some good things. We need to cash in a few more chances but, other than that, we're starting to build some chemistry."
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Wayne Simmonds is among Toronto's depth players looking to get on track. He's registered just one assist and six shots in five games since returning from a broken wrist.
"I got a few expletive words for myself," the gritty winger said following Monday's overtime loss to the Oilers. "I don't think I was good at all. I need to do more. I think I was kind of in my head a little bit, but I'll get that figured out. I need to start contributing again."
Simmonds, who missed six weeks with the injury, started Saturday's game on the second line before being dropped to the unit with Ilya Mikheyev and Pierre Engvall.
"Just thinking too much," Simmonds said of the issue right now. "When you play your best hockey you're having fun and you're kind of carefree ... I got to start enjoying myself."
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Lines at Wednesday's morning skate:
Hyman - Matthews - Marner
Galchenyuk - Tavares - Nylander
Thornton - Kerfoot - Spezza
Mikheyev - Engvall - Simmonds
Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Holl
Dermott - Bogosian
Campbell starts
Hutchinson
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2021-03-31 20:53:20Z
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