The Toronto Maple Leafs shook up their normal routine after a 6-3 loss to Carolina on Thursday. The club cut short its practice on Friday and held an optional morning skate on Saturday prior to the finale of its three-game homestand against the Philadelphia Flyers at Air Canada Centre.
The Leafs also will have a few new faces in the lineup. With Matt Martin and James van Riemsdyk out injured, winger Josh Leivo gets his first start of the season and Kasperi Kapanen was recalled from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League.
Both youngsters will play on the fourth line with veteran center Dominic Moore.
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Leivo has been a healthy scratch for the first 10 games, which is a repeat of what happened to him last season. The 24-year-old scored 10 points in 13 games, but was either on injured reserve or in the press box on most nights.
Kapanen was a surprising demotion at training camp after scoring a pair of goals for Toronto in their first round playoff loss to Washington. The 21-year-old has three goals in six games for the Leafs' AHL affiliate and did not play in the Marlies 4-2 win in Syracuse on Friday.
“(Leivo) has worked hard, been honest, gone about his business, got better and used the resources that he has to get better. (Kapanen) is a kid playing in the minors. ” Leafs head coach Mike Babcock said on Saturday. “The thing about the NHL, you’ve got to take someone’s job. That’s just the way it is, and no one gives it to you. The other guys in front of them, they don’t want to give it to them, that’s how they are feeding their family.”
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To clear space on their 23-man roster, Toronto sent veteran Eric Fehr to the American Hockey League. Fehr cleared waivers on Tuesday and the demotion to the AHL will clear over half of the center’s $2 million salary.
Babcock indicated that sitting both Martin and van Riemsdyk was precautionary, as the club wants them healthy when it sets out on a three-game California road swing next week.
“Both (guys) are mad at me and want to play.” Babcock said. “We expect (Martin) and (van Riemsdyk) to be ready to go in our next game. We expect them to be back in, we just don’t want them on the (trainer’s) table.”
Toronto’s Frederik Andersen makes his 10th start in goal, while Philadelphia will go with Brian Elliott, who allowed six goals on 25 shots in his last start vs. Anaheim.