Leipsic gets back on ice to face his former team
Forward returns after five games as healthy scratch
TORONTO — Brendan Leipsic’s return to the Golden Knights lineup could not have worked out better.
The 23-year-old forward was back in Toronto on Monday night to face his former team, the Maple Leafs, who had left him exposed in the NHL Expansion Draft. He had sat out the past five games as a healthy scratch, but coach Gerard Gallant decided to put Leipsic in the lineup, sitting Will Carrier for the first time this season.
“He deserves a chance to play,” Gallant said of Leipsic, who has four assists in eight games this season and played with Pierreedouard Bellemare and Tomas Nosek on the Knights’ fourth line and logged 9 minutes, 24 seconds in ice time on Monday. “He’s a hard-working kid who never complains, and Carrier hasn’t had a day off so far.”
Leipsic played six games with the Maple Leafs, and he scored in his first NHL game in Vancouver in 2016. He holds no grudges against the Maple Leafs for leaving him unprotected. He was just glad to be back in the lineup, though he took a first-period penalty for slashing that probably didn’t sit well with Gallant.
“It’s very exciting to be back,” Leipsic said after Monday’s morning skate at Air Canada Centre. “It’s not going to be smooth sailing all the time. So, I’m just trying to keep an even keel.”
Knights series on Facebook
The Knights will be featured in a five-episode series “Home Team” which will be shown on Facebook’s Watch platform.
The series, produced by the NHL and Nowthis Sports, premieres Wednesday and will air weekly over the next five weeks. Viewers can add the show to their watchlist by following the Home Team: The Vegas Golden Knights Show Page.
“Home Team” was embedded with the team during training camp and was filming at the time of the Oct. 1 mass shooting on the Strip. The series chronicles the team as it helps to unite a community trying to heal in the wake of the tragedy.
“We’re honored to be partnering with the NHL to create such a meaningful series,” said Athan Stephanopoulos, president of Nowthis. “It’s not often that a professional sports team is launched, but given the extra weight of the recent events in Las Vegas, our goal is to tell this story with sensitivity and on-the-ground perspective that Nowthis is known for.”
About the Canadiens
After getting off to a rocky 1-6-1 start, the Montreal Canadiens, the Knights’ opponent Tuesday, have won four of their past five, with three of the wins coming on the road at Ottawa, Winnipeg and Chicago. The three road wins came with the Habs’ second- and third-string goaltenders as Al Montoya and Charlie Lindgren played well while starter Carey Price deals with a lower-body injury.
Defenseman Shea Weber and forwards Brendan Gallagher and Jonathan Drouin share the team scoring lead with 11 points apiece. Gallagher has a team-high six goals while Weber leads the team with eight assists.
The recent surge has lifted the Canadiens out of the Atlantic Division cellar and into a fifth-place tie with Boston. Both teams had 13 points as of Monday.
Contact Steve Carp at scarp@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.