Leafs' Aston-Reese in regular practice sweater, Simmonds remains likely scratch
Published
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Zach Aston-Reese was in a regular sweater ahead of Saturday's practice, indicating that he may make a return to the lineup for Sunday's Game 3 against the Florida Panthers, TSN's Mark Masters reports.
He played just 6:21 in Game 1 before he was scratched in favour of Sam Lafferty in Game 2. Forward Wayne Simmonds remains in a grey (scratched) sweater.
Aston-Reese, 28, has one goal in six playoff games this season after scoring 10 goals and adding four assists in 77 regular season contests.
He enters the lineup in place of the injured Matthew Knies, who has been ruled out of Games 3 and 4 with a concussion. Head coach Sheldon Keefe added the 20-year-old is 'unlikely' to return during this series. Knies was injured in when he got tied up with Panthers’ forward Sam Bennett behind the net and was taken down hard to the ice in the opening frame of Game 2.
The Maple Leafs trail the Panthers 2-0 in their second-round series after dropping the first two games at Scotiabank Arena. Game 3 takes place on Sunday in Sunrise, Florida.
The Leafs skated with the following lines at Saturday's practice:
Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Jarnkrok - Tavares - Nylander
Kerfoot - O’Reilly - Acciari
Aston-Reese - Kampf - Lafferty
Simmonds
Rielly - Schenn
McCabe - Brodie
Giordano - Liljegren
Gustafsson - Holl
Timmins
Samsonov
Woll
Murray
Leafs special teams work:
PP1
Rielly, Matthews, Marner, O’Reilly, Tavares
PP2
Gustafsson, Kerfoot, Jarnkrok, Nylander, Bunting