The Toronto Maple Leafs were back on the ice today to prepare for their Thursday night matchup against the Washington Capitals, and as expected had Frederik Andersen in the net. What they didn’t have, was many defenders in front of him as both Roman Polak and Nikita Zaitsev—who suffered injuries in the final game of the season against Columbus—were absent. Tyler Bozak and Nikita Soshnikov were also both nowhere to be seen, though Bozak is still expected to play.
It’s not clear if the two defenders are actually out or just staying off the ice, as the Maple Leafs have not made a call-up from the minors to replace them. Instead, Josh Leivo was skating as the sixth defender; something that will definitely not be in the plans for game 1. For a team that faced almost no injury controversy during the season, the past few weeks have been a trying period with multiple head injuries for Andersen and now two key defenders out. They’ll need all hands on deck if they want to beat the President’s Trophy winning Capitals.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets gave an entire fan base a heart attack this morning when they announced a call up of goaltender Oscar Dansk. The minor league netminder isn’t up to replace any injury though, just to serve as the team’s third goaltender through the playoffs. Both Sergei Bobrovsky and Joonas Korpisalo are healthy and ready to lead the Blue Jackets against their opponents, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
- Max Pacioretty left Montreal practice today after taking either a stick or a puck to the face according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet. While there is no report yet on the severity, it would be hard to see Pacioretty sit out game one for any laceration or dental injury. Engels also reports that it will be Brian Flynn, Torey Mitchell and Michael McCarron scratched for the opener, meaning it will indeed be Steve Ott centering the fourth line alongside Alex Galchenyuk.
- Evgeni Malkin was back into the line rushes at Penguins practice according to Dan Rosen of NHL.com. The superstar center has been aiming for a game 1 return for a while, and it looks like he’ll be ready to go. Centering Bryan Rust and Phil Kessel, getting Malkin back is a huge factor for the Penguins who continue to get healthy at the right time—that is, other than Kris Letang who will miss the entire playoffs.