The last two months have not been fun for Maple Leafs goaltender Jack Campbell. On Thursday, we found out a potential reason for his drop-off in play since the calendar flipped to 2022.
Campbell will be out at least two weeks with a rib injury, according to the team. It’s unknown when he suffered it, but defenseman Morgan Rielly said Thursday that the goaltender told him it’s something he’s been dealing with for a while.
“I don’t think it’s been around that long, I don’t think that’s anything in play,” said head coach Sheldon Keefe. “In fact, he himself was feeling quite comfortable with where he’s at. He just aggravated it the other night, went for some testing and now going to need some time.”
Since Jan. 8, the Maple Leafs have allowed 3.72 goals per game, seventh-most in the NHL and Campbell has posted an .868 even strength save percentage. Going forward, it’ll be Petr Mrazek’s net, and he hasn’t been too inspiring in his 15 starts with an .895 ESSV%.
Campbell was in the early-season Vezina Trophy conversation and his play earned him a place on the Atlantic Division roster at the 2022 NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas.
Lehner leaving road trip
Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner will be leaving their current road trip with a lower-body injury. Vegas has four games left away from T-Mobile Arena on this trip, which continues with a back-to-back in Buffalo and Pittsburgh Thursday and Friday. Head coach Peter DeBoer said Lehner will return home to undergo “some tests” on a different ailment than the shoulder injury that was bothering him earlier in the season.
“We sent him home for some tests,” DeBoer said. “Not upper body. [It] was last time. This isn’t upper body.”
Like Mrazek, it’ll be Laurent Brossoit in the net for the Golden Knights, who also recalled Logan Thompson. Broissoit has a .917 ESSV% in 21 games played, while Thompson has made just two starts this season.
Already dealing with Mark Stone and Nolan Patrick out of the lineup, the Golden Knights are clinging to a playoff spot in a very competitive Western Conference playoff race. They current sit in the third seed in the Pacific Division, but the Oilers and Canucks are only behind them by two and four points, respectively.
Heiskanen out indefinitely
Any small chance that the Stars were going to try and trade John Klingberg before the March 21 NHL trade deadline is gone now that Miro Heiskanen has been diagnosed with mononucleosis. The defenseman has missed three games and was on the ice for Tuesday’s practice. Head coach Rick Bowness had said he expected him to play Saturday against the Rangers.
“Good to see him back on the ice,” Bowness said Tuesday. “He’s still weak, pale. But he’s back on the ice, so he’ll play Saturday.”
Heiskanen leads the Stars in ice time with 24:46 and has four goals and 29 points in 52 games this season.
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.