鈥淭here鈥檚 always a fine line between being assertive and confident, and reckless and undisciplined,鈥 Leafs defenceman Chris Tanev says.
Maple Leafs听肠补辫迟补颈苍听Auston Matthews, acknowledging he’s playing through an injury, says he’s ready for action for tonight’s Game 5.
He said whatever the injury, it’s 鈥渘ot a big deal鈥 even though it kept him off the ice for an otherwise full practice Monday.
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鈥淵ou just listen to your body sometimes,鈥 Matthews said. 鈥淪ometimes you just feel like you need a little time off the ice. It’s not that big deal.
鈥淓verybody’s grinding right now. It’s that point in the season where it’s hard physical hockey. You go through different things. So it’s nothing that’s abnormal.鈥
Matthews missed 15 games this season with an undisclosed injury, scoring 33 goals聽鈥 the lowest output of his nine-year career. He has one goal in four games against Ottawa.
When asked how he thought Matthews was after a day off, coach Craig Berube didn’t miss a beat.
鈥淩ested,鈥 Berube said. 鈥(He played) a lot of minutes the other night in that game (he played more than 26 minutes in the overtime loss in Game 4). So just a little extra rest for him.鈥
Matthews spent about 15 minutes on the ice at the morning skate, mostly taking passes from Max Domi and shooting from the slot.
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鈥淗e works insanely hard,鈥 forward Max Pacioretty said of Matthews. 鈥淗e’s an extremely hard worker, one of the hardest I’ve seen. That’s why he’s had so much success.鈥
No lineup changes
Berube said he’d go with the same lineup that lost 4-3 in overtime Saturday, and that means there’s still no room for veteran centre David K盲mpf.
鈥淚’ve liked our game, so I don’t see a reason to change it right now,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淗e (K盲mpf) is fine. It’s hard for him, for sure. But he got injured at the end of the year and that’s the situation. The team was playing well and I didn’t want to change the lineup.
鈥淚t’s not a knock against him at all. It’s just how things are looking.鈥
Auston Matthews did not practise ahead of Tuesday’s Game 5 for rest, while goalie Joseph Woll was under the weather, head coach Craig Berube said.聽
Elimination game
海角社区官网can earn a series-clinching win on home ice for the fifth time in the past 30 years, following the 2004 conference quarter-finals, 2002 conference semifinals, 2002 conference quarter-finals and 2001 conference quarter-finals.
鈥淲e’re ready to go,鈥 Berube said. 鈥淕uys feel good and are anxious to play.鈥
The Leafs are 1-12 since 2018 in elimination games.
Kevin McGran is a Star sports reporter based in Toronto. Follow
him on Bluesky聽@kevinmcgran
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