Crag Berube was forced to shuffle the Leafs' lines at practice ahead of Wednesday's game against the Minnesota Wild with the imminent return of Max Pacioretty.
Pacioretty is projected to return to the Maple Leafs' lineup against the Wild while Knies could be back on Saturday against Edmonton.
Pacioretty missed the last three games after taking a puck to the head in a game against the Montreal Canadiens.
You can look to John Tavares and Matthew Knies’ imminent returns and hope they can spark the lineup, but this is still a team with Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner. Offence should not be this difficult and they have the raw talent to at least make games interesting. Tonight was far from it.
Jared Spurgeon and Marat Khusnutdinov scored in the first period, Filip Gustavsson stopped 31 shots, and the Minnesota Wild beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1.
THROUGH GAMES OF THURSDAY, JAN. 30, 2025
The Minnesota Wild last played away on January 26 against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Wild won by a score of 4-2 in regulation, and their current league record is 29-17-4 for a 0.620 Points %. Tied with the Leafs in Points %, the Wild are third in the central with a goal differential even more slight than the Leafs at +3.
“It can be the most random time in the summer and no matter what, you’ll see 'RR' pop up on your phone,” Nick Robertson said. Every group chat needs an instigator; someone to keep the dialogue alive during low points. On and off the ice, Reaves fills that role.
All season, the Maple Leafs have managed to keep the plane in the air minus a couple of main engines and iced-up wings.
Leafs answered our poll. In part 1, we reveal the teammates most Leafs would like to be stuck with in an elevator, and more.
A timeline for the injured centre’s return from a lower-body injury is starting to come into focus, Mark Masters writes.
Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares has resumed skating and could return to practice by the end of this week, head coach Craig Berube told Joshua Kloke of The Athletic on Monday.