Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
No urgency to rush recovering Sbisa, Carrier back into games
If they had to play, both defenseman Luca Sbisa and right wing Will Carrier could probably be in the Golden Knights’ lineup.
But with the team playing so well and riding a six-game winning streak, there doesn’t seem to be any sense of urgency to get the two veterans back on the ice. Both have been practicing without restrictions for almost a week.
“I’m feeling good,” Carrier said Saturday after practice at City National Arena. “I’m just waiting for the doctors’ OK.”
Sbisa said: “I’m pretty close but with the way things are going, why change anything?”
Oscar Lindberg has filled in well for Carrier, who has not played since suffering an upper-body injury Nov. 25. Jon Merrill has looked comfortable since replacing Sbisa, who went out with a lower-body injury Dec. 12.
Pickard returns
Goaltender Calvin Pickard, the first player selected by the Golden Knights in the NHL Expansion Draft last June and who was ultimately traded to Toronto, will be in a Maple Leafs uniform Sunday at T-Mobile Arena.
Centers Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews lead the Leafs in scoring, both with 29 points. Matthews has a team-best 15 goals and 14 assists; Marner has five goals and a team-leading 24 assists.
■ Goaltender: Frederik Andersen, 20-10-1, 2.64 goalsagainst average, .923 save percentage.
■ Coach: Mike Babcock, third season, 92-83-28
■ Founded: 1917 as Toronto Arenas; changed name to Toronto St. Patricks in 1919; changed name to Toronto Maple Leafs in 1926.
■ Last Stanley Cup: 1967
■ Did you know: Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews isn’t the only professional athlete in his family. His uncle Wes played four games as a wide receiver and kickoff/punt returner with the Miami Dolphins in 1966.
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Steve Carp
Pickard was recalled to the Leafs from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League to back up Frederik Andersen after Curtis McElhinney suffered a lower-body injury. He started and took the 4-3 loss Friday against Colorado, the team for which he played prior to being left unprotected in the expansion draft.
Pickard appeared in two preseason games for the Knights, both losses, and was placed on waivers Oct. 2. He was traded Oct. 6 for Tobias Lindberg and a sixthround draft pick in 2018.
Glass injured
Cody Glass, the Knights’ top draft pick from last June, was injured in Friday’s Portland-Tri-City game when the center was slashed on his right leg by Tri-City defenseman Dylan Coghlan late in the second period of the Winterhawks’ 3-2 overtime win. The MRI came back negative and he is listed as day to day.
Glass leads the Winterhawks in scoring with 32 assists and 54 points. Coghlan was a teammate of Glass in the Knights’ training camp as a free agent.