Among the last things the Maple Leafs could afford was another injury.
On Tuesday, they got one anyway.
The Leafs announced an hour before their home game against the St. Louis Blues that winger Matthew Knies would not play and is listed as day to day with a lower-body injury.
Already out with various ailments are goalie Anthony Stolarz, defencemen Chris Tanev and Brandon Carlo and centres Auston Matthews, Scott Laughton and Nicolas Roy.
Toronto’s shabby record of 8-9-2 aside, Knies has been one of the more productive Leafs. He’s third in team scoring with 22 points (five goals and 17 assists) in 19 games. On Monday at practice, he skated on a line with Max Domi in the middle and rookie Easton Cowan on the right side.
Bobby McMann was moved into Knies’ spot against the Blues.
Sammy Blais, the only remaining healthy forward who was not in the lineup, drew in against the Blues. He took warmup on a line with centre Jacob Quillan (playing in his second NHL game) and Matias Maccelli on the left.
The Knies injury news comes in the wake of the Leafs’ five-game losing streak, their longest since they lost six in a row in November 2019.
Earlier Tuesday, before the Knies injury became public knowledge, general manager Brad Treliving indicated during his quarter-mark news conference that he refused to use injuries as an excuse for the Leafs’ overall poor play through 19 games.
“We’re going through injuries, but everybody goes through injuries,” Treliving said. “You look around the league, there are good teams that that have injuries. To me, that’s a losing mentality.
“I’ve been in this game a long time. I’ve yet to have a meeting with a player that says, ‘You know what, give me less. Give me less opportunity.’
“Everybody wants more opportunity. Everybody wants a bigger role. When you go through injuries, that allows people to have a bigger role. Your injuries are what they are. That’s not an excuse. We’ve got to find a way to get through that.”
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