Toronto Maple Leafs being ‘overly cautious’ with Edmundson; Domi, Liljegren and Reaves to play Saturday.
The Toronto Maples Leafs have some players dealing with injury going into game 80 of the regular season against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
After missing the 6-5 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday, forward Max Domi will return to the lineup. Domi’s ailment seemed to be minor, as he was listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury, but the 12th overall pick in 2013 also missed practice on Friday.
Domi has 47 points (nine goals, 38 assists) in 79 games this season.
On the blue line, defenseman Joel Edmundson will be out for Toronto with a minor injury that ‘popped up’, according to coach Sheldon Keefe. The team said this was not the same injury he sustained after blocking a shot on March 24 against the Carolina Hurricanes that forced him to miss six games. He returned Thursday against New Jersey and said he would be playing Saturday if it was a playoff game.
The Maple Leafs are being overly cautious with Edmundson, as they are already in a playoff spot and all but certain to finish as the third seed in the Atlantic Division. The Leafs trail the Florida Panthers by five points with three games remaining.
Toronto will not need to make many changes to the lineup though, as Timothy Liljegren is set to return after missing eight games with an upper-body injury. Liljegren has not played since finishing minus-3 against the Devils on March 26.
Before his injury, the 24-year-old defenseman was playing well with one goal and five assists in his previous seven games.
Forward Ryan Reaves will also jump back into the lineup after sitting out the past two games as a healthy scratch. He played 8:05 in his last game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 8 and has five points (three goals, two assists) and a minus-14 rating in 46 games this season.
Detroit will be battling for their playoff lives on Saturday, currently one point out of the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
