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The Toronto Maple Leafs will take on the Carolina Hurricanes at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday dressed in their Green and White St. Pats third jersey, as they do annually. In what seems to also be an annual occasion, the Leafs are playing out the final month of the regular season locked into a playoff spot in the final weeks of the regular season with games of little or no consequence.

Calle Jarnkrok goes shoulder-first into the boards pic.twitter.com/OIPThBnLmZ

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 15, 2024

At this time of the year, the Leafs are hoping to stay on a positive track and continue to play well heading into the postseason and to stay healthy. The former has been the case since the All-Star break with a 13-5-0 record, but the latter has begun to be a concern with a month to go until the playoffs.

Mitch Marner is skating but not practicing and will miss his third straight game on Saturday. Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin did not practice on Friday after getting some bumps and bruises in the 6-2 win in Philadelphia, but he did take the morning skate on Saturday and head coach Sheldon Keefe expects him to play. The club received a bit of a scare at the skate, as goalie Ilya Samsonov left the ice in pain. Keefe stated that there was no health issue and that Samsonov will make his third straight start.

Ilya Samsonov leaves Leafs skate in pain @TSN_Edge @TSN_Sports pic.twitter.com/FTokF5trmt

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) March 16, 2024

The most concerning news is the status of Calle Jarnkrok. The veteran winger missed five weeks with a broken knuckle before returning on March 2nd. After not practicing on Friday, Keefe indicated that he suffered a hand injury and will be out week to week.

There is no indication whether the injury is a reoccurrence of the previous one or a new one altogether, but his availability for the playoffs will now be in question.

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