The Maple Leafs battled valiantly in the absence of injured captain Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies, but their potential returns on Saturday came at a perfect time.

Matthews will miss his ninth straight game with a mysterious injury, but Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said "he's feeling good."

It wasn’t the fun trip to Florida that three former Panthers on the Maple Leafs had envisioned, nor for the rest of the Toronto bench. In the most goals the Leafs have given up in their past 10 starts,

The bruised-and-battered, next-guy-up, stick-to-the-system Toronto Maple Leafs have weathered the storm admirably, going 7-2 over the nearly four-week-long absence of Auston Matthews. But as the forward injuries compound and the goals dry up,

When you’ve waited nearly all of November to get better and missed eight games, another few days won’t matter. By early Wednesday, it was clear Auston Matthews was not going to jump back into the Maple Leafs’ lineup for the evening game against the Florida Panthers with just one full practice under his belt.