The Toronto Maple Leafs are battling for the top spot in the Atlantic but also want to keep their players fresh for the playoffs.
Toronto is currently on a West Coast road trip, and in their first game, they lost to the San Jose Sharks in a shootout. With the game going into overtime, Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner had plenty of ice time.
With that, Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube allowed them to skip practice and get rest to be fresh for games.
“The minutes got a little high…,” Berube said. “With the state of the game and where we were at—Max (Domi) was in the (penalty) box, too, and wasn’t available, I played a lot of our skilled guys a lot down the stretch to try to tie the game up. We get into OT, and that is when they play.”
Ahead of the Maple Leafs’ road game against the Los Angeles Kings, Marner and Matthews were excused from practice. Although practices are important, Berube felt his two key players needed rest.
“It’s important, I always tell you guys, I don’t want their minutes to get that high. There are times that it does,” Berube said. “But every game is different. I want to win games, and so do they. It’s not like they haven’t done that before, you know? They rest today, get ready for tomorrow.”
Marner currently leads the Maple Leafs with 89 points, while Matthews has 66 points.
Matthews Felt Maple Leafs Are Playing Slow
Toronto is nearing the end of the regular season and has played 72 games.
With just 10 games left in the season, it has been a grind, and Matthews feels like the team is playing slow.
“I didn’t love our game tonight. I thought we just seemed slow. Didn’t really seem to take care of the puck much. Just kind of messing around with it too much,” Matthews said. “And they’re a young, skilled team. They’re a hungry team. Despite where they’re at in the standings, they’re playing hard every night.”
Berube, meanwhile, also wondered if the travel had anything to do with it, but he did think the team struggled early on.
“We didn’t play very well in the first period. They were all over us. Out-skated us in the first. Just looked quicker than us,” Berube said. “Maybe the travel yesterday and everything. You know, we just weren’t on our toes. We got better as the game went along.”
The Maple Leafs are 43-25-4 and in second place in the Atlantic Division.
Matthews Wants Team to Win Division
Toronto is in a three-way battle with the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning to win the Atlantic Division.
Winning the division is key as the winner will play a Wild Card team, while the other two will have to play each other in the first round.
“We’ve been thinking about that all year,” Matthews said. “Ourselves, the two Florida teams, and it’s a tight race. It’s up for grabs. So, obviously, you want to win that for sure.”
Toronto will play the Kings on the road on March 29.
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