Auston Matthews was absent from practice on Tuesday, one day after being declared a game-time decision against Vegas due to "soreness." Matthews played against Vegas, posting his ninth assist of the season, but called the injury a lingering issue, which he aggravated Saturday night against the Blues.

Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said the team is in a holding pattern with the star centre, but expect to more by Tuesday afternoon. Babcock said he was unsure if Matthews would play against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday and noted Matthews was not himself while playing through the injury against the Golden Knights.

"He was fine (but) wasn't as dominant as he normally is. Didn't have the same power," Babcock said Tuesday.

The Maple Leafs recalled Frederik Gauthier to give the team a fifth centre on the 23-man roster. Babcock said Monday William Nylander would have played centre if Matthews had not played.

The team shuffled their lines during Tuesday's practice with Matthews missing, with Patrick Marleau shifting to centre and no line remaining the same from Monday's lineup:

Brown-Bozak-Marner
Martin-Moore-Leivo
Komarov-Kadri-Nylander
JvR-Marleau-Hyman
Gauthier

Babcock would not commit to sticking with those lines against the Wild.

"I wasn't in love with it by any means after watching it so we'll figure it out by tomorrow," Babcock said of the lines after practice.

The Maple Leafs loaned forward Kasperi Kapanen to the Toronto Marlies to make room for Gauthier. Kapanen has been held without a point in three games with the Maple Leafs this season, last dressing in Saturday's loss to the St. Louis Blues. 

Gauthier, 22, scored two goals and posted one assist in 21 games with the Maple Leafs last season. He owns two assists in eight games with the Marlies this season.

 The team's defensive lineup remained unchanged in practice:

Rielly-Hainsey
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Borgman-Carrick
Polak