NHL

Ice Chips: Matthews out; Tavares on top line

By
TSN.ca Staff

Published: 

Auston Matthews Maple Leafs

Keep updated on all the injury news and roster updates from around the NHL with daily Ice Chips.

Toronto Maple Leafs

John Tavares is expected to fill in for Auston Matthews on the top line for Thursday's game against the Winnipeg Jets.

Matthews will miss Thursday's game is considered day-to-day, according to head coach Sheldon Keefe. He was the first player on the ice ahead of the morning skate on Thursday, but left before the morning skate got underway.

Tavares took Matthews spot in line rushes, skating with Mitch Marner and Alex Galchenyuk. Alex Kerfoot centred the second line between Zach Hyman and Ilya Mikheyev.

The 23-year-old Matthews has 32 goals and  21 assists in 40 games with the Leafs this season, his fifth with the club.

Starting goalie Frederik Andersen, who hasn't played since March 18 with a lower-body injury, returned to the practice ice on Thursday. Andersen was on the ice ahead of the morning skate as the Maple Leafs prepare to take on the Winnipeg Jets.

Keefe says this wasn't the first time Andersen has skated since going down, but is part of the process. There is still no timetable for his return.

The 31-year-old is 13-8-2 with a 2.91 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage this season.

Additionally, Nick Robertson was cleared from the NHL's COVID protocol list and joined the Leafs at their morning skate.

The 19-year-old Robertson, who went on the COVID list on Wednesday, has only played three games this season after going down with an injury in January.

Finally, William Nylander needs one more negative COVID-19 test before rejoining the team and he could return as early as Friday.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks practice on Thursday will be closed to the media. The NHL, NHLPA and Canucks medical officials will be involved in determining whether the Canucks are healthy enough to play on Friday, according to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger.

Columbus Blue Jackets 

Centre Joshua Dunne is slated to make his NHL debut Thursday against the Dallas Stars.

Boston Bruins

Tuukka Rask will start Thursday against the New York Islanders, while Jakub Zboril will draw in on defence for Kevan Miller.

New York Rangers

Artemi Panarin missed morning skate for maintenance and is expected to play Thursday against the New Jersey Devils.

Buffalo Sabres

Dustin Tokarski will start in net Thursday against the Washington Capitals.

Interim head coach Don Granato did not have an update on goaltender Linus Ullmark.

Florida Panthers

Head coach Joel Quenneville says goalie Chris Driedger will start for the Panthers against the Tampa Bay Lightning Thursday night while defenceman Brandon Montour will make his debut with Florida after he was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres earlier this week ahead of the Trade Deadline.

Forward Sam Bennett, who was picked up from the Calgary Flames, could potentially make his debut on Saturday.