Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares is day-to-day with a lower-body injury that kept him out of the lineup against the Philadelphia Flyers Wednesday.
Kirill Semyonov made his NHL debut in Tavares' place and William Nylander scored twice as the Maple Leafs beat the Flyers 3-0.
Earlier in the day, as reported by Sportsnet's Luke Fox, Tavares was seen wincing during morning skate after a sequence of events that included taking a pass from assistant coach Manny Malhotra, working his edges hard in tight turns around the circles, deking an imaginary defender, and firing a puck into an empty net.
The captain poured in an unusual amount of pre-game work Wednesday morning – approximately 40 minutes’ work – during his club’s optional skate.
Winger Ondrej Kase, who was similarly a game-time decision, played and scored the Maple Leafs' third goal Wednesday.
Both forwards missed Tuesday’s practice with undisclosed ailments suffered in Monday’s loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
Tavares has been scorching hot lately, scoring six goals and notching four assists in the Maple Leafs’ past six games before his scratch.
