The Toronto Maple Leafs received some good news and some bad news on the injury front on Thursday.
Maple Leafs injuries: Phil Kessel will play, Tyler Bozak out extended period
Good news for the Maple Leafs: Phil Kessel will play on Thursday. Bad news: They lost another center to injury.
The good news: Phil Kessel will be in the lineup on Thursday night when the team takes on the Dallas Stars in Toronto, according to the Globe and Mail's James Mirtle. The bad news: Tyler Bozak is going to miss "an extended period" with what coach Randy Carlyle called an oblique strain.
Toronto was already hurting down the middle with Dave Bolland out of the lineup, and even though Bozak hasn't been having a great season, his absence is still another blow to their center depth that they can't really afford right now.
Bozak, normally the center on Kessel's line, will be replaced by Nazem Kadri.
Still, the biggest news here for the Maple Leafs is that Kessel isn’t going to miss any time. There was some concern on Wednesday when he had to leave practice early because, as Carlyle explained it, he was “not feeling well in one area of his body.” There has been speculation that Kessel could be dealing with a wrist injury.
Kessel has 15 goals and 10 assists in 28 games this season and has scored a goal in three of Toronto’s past four games.
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