The Toronto Maple Leafs will look to rally and even their first round series against the Montreal Canadiens without team captain John Tavares in Game 2 at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday. Leafs GM Kyle Dubas provided an update on Tavares, who was was discharged and is under the supervision of team physicians after colliding with Montreal winger Corey Perry in the first period on Thursday.
"John received a CT scan, MRI and along with (Leafs medical director) Dr. Noah Foreman was consulted with the lead neurosurgeon and neuroradiologist at St. Michael's Hospital, and thankfully cleared of all structural damage to his head, neck and spine, which was obviously a major concern at the time of incident." Dubas said. "John was diagnosed with a concussion, and also sustained a knee injury on the play. A similar injury to the one sustained by Zach Hyman in Vancouver during the regular season. That will be a minimum of two weeks, but obviously our primary concern is the concussion and making sure that he returns to full health."
Dubas indicated that the timeline for the knee injury similar to Hyman is a minimum of two weeks, but the unknown nature of recovering from a concussion could mean that Tavares will be out until potentially the semi-final next month or Stanley Cup Final in July.
Leafs head Sheldon Keefe confirmed the lineup changes made at practice on Friday will be maintained for Game 2, Nick Foligno will shift to center on the second line to replace Tavares and Alex Galchenyuk will move in on left wing with William Nylander. Pierre Engvall will replace Riley Nash on the checking line, with Ilya Mikheyev and Alex Kerfoot shifting to center.
I’m hoping that our team is going to come out and play very well today and I’ve got confidence that we’ll do that. It’s my job to make adjustments accordingly.” Keefe said. “I don’t feel like we have an abundance of options, really, at the center ice position in particular. We’ve got to monitor that, but I like the look of the lines here today. Regardless of what the lines are here tonight, the individuals have got to step up and play better. If you do that, the lines will come together just fine.”
Jack Campbell will make his second playoff start on Saturday against Montreal’s Carey Price, who made 35 saves for the win in Game 1. Habs coach Dominique Ducharme indicated one lineup change for Game 2, as Jesperi Kotkaniemi will replace the injured Jake Evans centering the fourth line.
*******If you are interested in sponsorship or advertising your business in the Greater Toronto / Southern Ontario area on this column, please send a message for more information by clicking on the “Contact” button at the top of the page.*******
Toronto Maple Leafs Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»