Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner missed his first game of the season on Sunday when he sat out the 5-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
“Marner is not going to play today,” coach Sheldon Keefe said before the game. “He’s got some bumps and bruises he’s been going through as somebody who’s played as much as he has would.”
Marner, 25, entered Sunday with a team-leading totals in assists (67) and points (95) to go along with 28 goals in 75 games this season.
“Mitch wants to play every game, but I think Mitch sees the big picture,” Keefe said. “As it’ll work out for him, he’ll get today off and get tomorrow off. He’ll come back in on Tuesday. That’s two days in a row [of rest] that he’ll be able to get. So anything that he might be nursing in terms of bumps and bruises or wear and tear, he has a chance to push through that. And I think that will be helpful.”
The Leafs also sat defensemen Mark Giordano and Jake McCabe on Sunday for rest purposes and moved defenseman Conor Timmins into the lineup. Timmins had an assist against the Red Wings.
The Maple Leafs also recalled forward Nick Abruzzese from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis. He had an assist in Sunday’s loss.
Reuters contributed to this report.