Maples Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev to return for Game 3 vs. Capitals

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been injury-thinned on their blue line, but they’re getting Nikita Zaitsev back for Game 3 against the Capitals.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have hung with the Washington Capitals pretty well through two games, with both games going to overtime and the teams splitting the results. The Eastern Conference first round series will move to Toronto now, and the home team will be getting a key player back.

Defenseman Nikita Zaitsev was injured in Toronto’s regular season finale, and he missed the first two games against Washington with an upper body injury. After Roman Polak went down with a severe right leg injury during the second period of Game 2 on Saturday night, the Maple Leafs played the rest of their 3-2 double-overtime win with just five healthy defenseman. Heading into Game 3 Monday night, they can have three healthy defensive pairings against the prolific offense of the Capitals.

Zaitsev average the second-most ice time among Maple Leafs’ defenseman (and on the team as a whole) during the regular season (22:01 per game), trailing fellow defenseman Morgan Reilly by just nine seconds per contest while playing all 82 games. Zaitsev’s -22 plus-minus was the worst on the team, perhaps due to playing as much as he did, but he did post 36 points (four goals, 32 assists) with one-third of those points (1 goal, 11 assists) coming on the power play.

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A high level of play from goaltender Frederik Andersen has been the key component for Toronto thus far in the series, but how sustainable that will be is an open question. Good play in front of him will help keep Andersen afloat, with as close to a full complement of healthy defenseman as possible, and the return of Zaitsev will be welcome.