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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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The Maple Leafs and Arizona Coyotes skated at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday. 

Jack Campbell will miss at least two weeks with a rib injury. 

"He tweaked something a week or so ago, and aggravated that the other night in our game," coach Sheldon Keefe revealed. "We knew that he was uncomfortable after the game and yesterday he wasn't feeling a lot better, so they sent him for some tests and ultimately found out this morning that he's going to need some time." 

Petr Mrazek, who has started consecutive games only once this season, will now get his first chance to carry the load for the Leafs. 

"I think he's in a good place," Keefe said. "This situation, right here, is the exact reason why you go out and sign a guy like Petr to partner with Jack."

Has this injury contributed to Campbell's recent run of poor play? 

"I don't think it's been around that long," Keefe stressed. "I don't think that's anything at play."

Erik Kallgren has been recalled from the American Hockey League on an emergency basis and will dress as the backup goalie. 

"They really like him down with the Marlies," said Keefe, "His play's been good, but they really like his demeanour and work ethic and those kind of things." 

 

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Long-time linemates John Tavares and William Nylander have been split up. 

"Both guys, in their own way, haven't played to their individual standard," Keefe explained. "When that happens, the line is going to suffer, obviously. It's not just that it hasn't produced at a high level, it's that they've been scored on a lot as a group. That's not good enough, so we need to shake some things up."

Per NaturalStatTrick.com, the Leafs have been outscored 20-10 over the past 20 games with Tavares and Nylander on the ice in five-on-five play. 

Tavares will now skate between Nick Robertson and Ondrej Kase while Nylander joins centre Alex Kerfoot and Wayne Simmonds. The line of David Kampf between Ilya Mikheyev and Pierre Engvall will stay together, as will the top line of Auston Matthews between Michael Bunting and Mitch Marner.

"We've been talking a ton about the Matthews, Bunting and Marner line and for good reason," Keefe said. "You watch how those guys play, I mean, their feet don't stop. They're forechecking. They're tracking. They're doing all the things that create pucks in favourable situations where the opposition is not in a good position. I don't think John and William's line has done that to anywhere close to that level." 

Tavares snapped a 20-game drought in five-on-five play on Tuesday, but the goal came when he was on the ice with Mikheyev and Engvall. Nylander had two points, both on the power play, against the Seattle Kraken, but finished the game minus-three. He now has the worst plus-minus mark on the team (-11). 

What's Keefe looking for from Nylander? 

"Just move his feet," the coach said. "Get involved. Get engaged on both sides of the puck. At the start of the season, he was really thriving, and feet were moving, and he was playing free out there and competing and things were happening."

The coach anticipates that the bottom three forward lines will all get similar ice time at even strength. 

"I don't know what's the third line, what's the fourth line," Keefe said. "I mean, Kerfoot and Nylander, that was a line in our top six when we played in the playoffs last year and maybe our best line, most effective line ... We need to be a team where four lines are going well," he said. "This is an attempt to do that."

 

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After posting a hat trick on Tuesday, Matthews will look to extend his lead in the Rocket Richard Trophy race on Thursday when the Scottsdale, Ariz., native faces his hometown team. 

"What he's doing on the ice is out of control," said Leafs defenceman Morgan Rielly. 

Matthews is up to 43 goals in 54 games this season. He scored against the Coyotes during a game in Arizona in January. 

"He's special," said Coyotes defenceman Jakob Chychrun. "It's crazy to see the highlights. He scores every game. In the summertime, he's always out there with us and you just see he has the will to get better each time he's out there."

Chychrun averages 23 minutes and 24 seconds of ice time per game to lead his team.

"He's a really solid player," Matthews observed. "He's got a really complete game. These guys have been feeling it quite a bit the last couple games. They play pretty free-wheeling and with the kind speed and skill they have, it makes them dangerous."

The Coyotes have scored 17 goals in the past two games. 

 

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Coyotes sniper Phil Kessel played one shift in Tuesday's win in Detroit before flying back to Arizona for the birth of his first child. Kessel has now suited up in 956 straight games, which is the third longest streak in NHL history. 

"It was quite a manoeuvre that he pulled off," Matthews said with a smile. 

"I'm happy the team and everyone was on board with him going out for that one shift," said Chychrun. "It's a pretty cool gesture. Ever since he's been here, he's really looked after us young guys. He's like a part of us. It's like he's a kid still, a big kid still with us."

Kessel's streak trails only Doug Jarvis (964) and Keith Yandle (978). Yandle's streak is also active. 

"What happened to him in the last hours, everybody in that room has a smile," said coach Andre Tourigny. "We're all happy for him. That's fantastic."

"We were all texting him yesterday and getting pictures of the baby," said Chychrun. "We're all so happy for him. That's such a special moment for him. She's so cute ... He says, 'Craziest experience,' of his life. I can only imagine what that's like."

Kessel missed Thursday's morning skate but will keep the games played streak alive tonight in Toronto. 

"He will be tired," said Tourigny, who plans to play Kessel between 13 and 16 minutes. "We'll take what he has, and we won't hold that against him. It's a special situation. I'm all for it. It's his first child and I'm so proud and happy for him."

 

Kessel's incredible streak started with the Leafs back in the 2009-10 season. His tenure in Toronto was tumultuous at times. He had some run-ins with the media and was part of the salute-gate situation, but throughout his career Kessel has been consistently praised for being a great teammate. 

"He's hard to explain," Chychrun acknowledged. "If he doesn't know you, you'd think this guy doesn't talk or is shy or nervous ... I don't think he's a guy that would change the way he acts for anybody. He's such a unique guy and someone I've really enjoyed getting to know more. He's the man, for sure."

Tourigny recalls being skeptical about Kessel after taking the Coyotes job, but then the pair met for an introductory dinner in the summer. 

"I asked him at some point about his image and he said, 'I don't care. I know who I am. The people who know me, what they think of me, that's what’s important to me,'" the coach recalled. "He's a really good human being. He's probably the most popular guy in the room."

 

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Jason Spezza will sit out a second straight game as a healthy scratch, but Keefe has promised to get the 38-year-old back in soon. 

Rasmus Sandin will miss a fourth straight game as he continues to ramp back up following an illness. 

"He's been in a tough spot here," Keefe said. "He's feeling better, for sure, but he hasn't practised with the team in about eight days and hasn't played in a week so, with the schedule, it's been hard for us to get him to the point where we feel good about where he's at, and then we've been happy with the defence and how it's gone." 

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Lines at Leafs morning skate: 

Bunting - Matthews - Marner 
Robertson - Tavares - Kase
Mikheyev - Kampf - Engvall
Nylander - Kerfoot - Simmonds 
Clifford, Spezza 

Rielly - Liljegren 
Brodie - Holl
Dermott - Lyubushkin
Sandin 

Mrazek starts 
Kallgren