The Toronto Maple Leafs are coming off a disappointing setback last night at the hands of the New Jersey Devils, a 6-3 defeat that resulted in head coach Sheldon Keefe calling out members of his team in a postgame rant that raised more than a few eyebrows everywhere.
And as they gathered for their morning skate today ahead of tonight's matchup against the suddenly hot Washington Capitals, there was one major absence. Forward Auston Matthews was not skating:
Right now, no official reason for his absence has been given, but the fact that Mitch Marner skated on the top line in Matthews' place during the skate could indicate that the latter is a placeholder for the former.
The lines they skated with are as follows:
Bertuzzi - Domi - Marner*
McMann - Tavares - Nylander
Knies - Holmberg - Robertson
Dewar - Kampf - Reaves
Gregor
McCabe - Liljegren
Brodie - Lyubushkin
Benoit - Timmins
Giordano
Woll
Samsonov
Jones
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