The Toronto Maple Leafs will get a major boost to their forward core tonight. Earlier today, TSN’s Mark Masters reported that William Nylander and Steven Lorentz were on the ice for Toronto’s practice. Further, multiple reports after practice indicated that Nylander would return to the lineup tonight.
Nylander has been dealing with a lower-body injury for the last little while. Since the Maple Leafs’ game against the Buffalo Sabres on October 24th, Nylander has only appeared in one game, missing three. Still, he’s been more than effective when in the lineup, scoring three goals and 15 points in nine games for Toronto this year.
Meanwhile, there’s no word on whether Lorentz will return to the lineup this evening. He missed a few games in mid-October due to a concussion, and missed Toronto’s recent game against the Philadelphia Flyers due to an upper-body injury. This year, he’s registered four assists in eight games, averaging 9:56 of ice time per game.
Other Atlantic Division injury notes:
- The Buffalo Sabres had a few missing forwards from today’s practice. According to Heather Engel of the NHL, Jiri Kulich and Jason Zucker were absent from this morning’s skate. A follow-up report from Paul Hamilton of WGR Sports Radio indicated that Zucker is dealing with an illness, while Kulich is dealing with some kind of injury. Neither forward is likely to participate in tomorrow’s contest.
- Despite leaving during the third period of last night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, it doesn’t appear Ottawa Senators forward Nick Cousins sustained any significant injury. According to TSN’s Bruce Garrioch, the fourth-line veteran fully participated in the team’s practice this morning.