The Maple Leafs made a couple of roster moves early on Saturday afternoon, hours before they met the Penguins in Pittsburgh.
As expected, veteran forward Max Pacioretty has been activated from longterm injured reserve and the expectation is that he will be in the lineup on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.
The news wasn’t good for defenceman Jake McCabe, who was placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Nov. 30. McCabe is listed with an upper-body injury after he took a shot off the head against the Tampa Bay Lightning last Saturday.
McCabe was hit by a shot from Tampa defenceman Nick Perbix, but was able to practise on Tuesday. At that point, he said he would be good to go; instead, the 31-year-old will miss a fourth consecutive game on Saturday.
With an average of 21 minutes 20 seconds, McCabe leads Leafs defencemen in ice time.
Pacioretty has not played since Nov. 9, when he suffered a lower-body injury in a game against the Montreal Canadiens. Earlier this week, he said he was “feeling really good” and was close to returning. Before the injury forced Pacioretty to miss the past 10 games, the 36-year-old had two goals and four assists in 13 games.
Leafs coach Craig Berube was critical of Nick Robertson’s play against the Washington Capitals on Friday and the youngster could be scratched in Pittsburgh.
The Leafs didn’t hold a morning skate, with media availability with Berube and players scheduled for late Saturday afternoon.
McCabe has some company on the sideline, as five other Leafs continue to recover from an injury. The closest to returning is forward Max Domi, who could be in the lineup on Tuesday in New Jersey against the Devils after dealing with a lower-body injury.
Also out are defenceman Jani Hakanpaa (knee) and forwards Bobby McMann (lower body), David Kampf (lower body) and Calle Jarnkrok (groin).
The Leafs will be looking to avenge a 3-1 loss at home to Washington, while the Penguins want to get back on the right side of it after losing 4-2 in New York against the Rangers on Friday night.
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