EDMONTON — Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews and Frederik Andersen took part in practice at Rogers Place on Sunday, but their status for Monday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers is unclear.
Matthews, who missed Saturday’s 4-0 win against the Oilers on Saturday with a wrist injury, didn’t skate on a line at practice, save for one drill and didn’t take any shots in the roughly 40-minute session.
“He’s progressed here today compared to where he’s been the last few days so that’s very positive,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He’s not ruled out for tomorrow, we’re just going to have to see how he is.”
Matthews leads the NHL in goals with 18 and has 13 assists in 20 games. Should the skilled sniper sit, the Leafs will likely continue to have John Tavares skate up the middle in his place on a line with Joe Thornton and Mitch Marner.
The only changes to the forward lines saw Jimmy Vesey skate as an extra. Nic Petan skated on the left wing of the fourth line with Travis Boyd and Jason Spezza. The Leafs appeared to be trending in this direction before Saturday’s game, but elected to scratch Petan instead.
Scott Sabourin and Kenny Agostino also skated as extras.
Toronto’s goaltending situation became a bit less clear following practice. Starting goaltender Frederik Andersen was a full participant, but Jack Campbell was absent.
Andersen didn’t look out of place after missing the last two games with a lower-body injury but remains a game-time decision.
“It’s not looking that if we’re being honest,” Keefe said of Andersen’s possibility of playing on Monday. “Where we’re at now is waiting for him to be comfortable and today he was on the ice for the better part of an hour and took lots of shots.”
Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen (right) stretching it out with Leafs goaltender coach Steve Briere (left)
Andersen is 11-3-2 this season with a .905 save percentage. He’s missed the last three games with a lower-body injury.
When asked if that means Campbell, fresh off a 30-save shutout against the Oilers on Saturday, would start after given a day off, Keefe took a more ominous tone.
“Like I said, between Campbell and Fred and their situations, we’ve got a lot of things to sort through here that I don’t suspect will get sorted out until tomorrow night.”
It’s worth noting that Campbell was stretching his leg after he got bumped in the head by Edmonton’s Tyler Ennis in the first period on Saturday.
Missing over a month with a leg injury, the Leafs are taking a cautious approach by having Campbell rest. Campbell is 3-0-0 this season with a .951 save percentage.
Michael Hutchinson and Joseph Woll joined Andersen as the three goaltenders that took part in practice.
Timothy Liljegren also took part in practice. He skated with Mikko Lehtonen as the extra defensive pair. Liljegren and Agostino were assigned to the team’s taxi squad on Saturday.
