Because of a scheduling quirk, the Toronto Maple Leafs will play their only home game of February on Saturday night when they face the Carolina Hurricanes.
The game also marks the return to action for both teams after the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off that was won by Canada 3-2 in overtime on Thursday night.
The Maple Leafs opened February with a four-game road trip before the break. After playing the Hurricanes, they embark on another four-game trip.
Both teams had players on opposite sides for the 4 Nations Face-Off final played in Boston.
The Maple Leafs had Mitchell Marner, who set up Connor McDavid’s winning goal in the final with his second assist of the game, and Auston Matthews, who had a couple of good chances to win the game for the United States during overtime and assisted on both his team’s goals.
The Hurricanes had Jaccob Slavin, who played stellar defense for the United States, and Seth Jarvis, a darting forward for Canada.
Toronto coach Craig Berube expects both his stars will be ready to play on Saturday.
“You got somebody that’s going to go in and play?” Berube quipped on Thursday. “As of right now, they’re playing (Saturday). These are big games.”
The tournament produced some fast and furious hockey and the final will likely go down as a classic.
“Hopefully they bring that energy back to us and sort of springboard us to where we want to get in the last two months of the season,” Toronto defenseman Christopher Tanev said.
The Maple Leafs are shooting for first in the Atlantic Division, and Tanev knows how they can improve on their second-place standing.
“Get back to what we’re doing well,” he said. “Defending well, we need to have good special teams both ways and play a team game where we’re all involved and doing things for each other. That’ll go a long way.”
“Everyone’s fighting for something,” Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe said. “Some are trying to fight to get into a playoff position. Some teams like ourselves are fighting to stay in playoff position and climb the ladder in our division.
“It’s going to be some good hockey down the stretch and it’s important to find that consistency quickly after the break and get back to our winning ways.”
Toronto forward Max Pacioretty was rested on Friday after making an early departure from practice on Thursday.
“He tweaked something right when he went out there,” Berube said. “I really don’t have any definite answers yet on him. I don’t think it’s serious, but we’ll just have to see.”
Carolina lost three of four entering the break and sits second in the Metropolitan Division.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour was not surprised by Slavin’s impact on the 4 Nations competition.
“He’s been lights out,” Brind’Amour said. “Nothing we didn’t know already.”
The Hurricanes could have forward Tyson Jost (lower-body injury), who has been out since Dec. 31, back for Saturday. He returned to full participation at practice on Tuesday, playing center between Eric Robinson and Jack Roslovic.
“When I got hurt, I felt like I was playing a really, really solid game,” Jost said. “I liked where my game was going and I was making a difference every time I was out there. It was just kind of a weird, freak play where I felt something snap.”
Carolina defeated visiting Toronto 6-3 on Jan. 9.
