Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner Absent From Practice After Loss to the Sharks

If the Maple Leafs weren't already feeling a bit down on themselves after another rough loss to a much weaker team, they had to go into practice today trying to get things going once again and shake off the loss before heading into a very crucial games against Los Angeles on Saturday.

So with the team needing everyone at their best both physically and mentally, it's a bit concurring then that both Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner missed practice drawing some potential injury concerns regarding the two.

However, it seems to be a case of 'rewarding' their efforts last night even in the loss. Due to how much time both men spent playing last night, Craig Berube sat them out to give them a breather.

Berube himself must have either been tired or fed up with his team as well, given that he had defensive specialist and penalty killing coach Lane Lambert run the practice on Friday.

While Matthews logged just over 25 minutes, and Marner slightly more, it wasn't as impactful as the team had hoped, and if the two can't really get things going like they used to, it might be a good idea to give them a look separately.

But with very little time to figure out a potential lineup change, the Leafs are really stuck if their top players are logging over a third of the game and have nothing to show for it.

The one positive we can take away from all of this is the fact that there seems to be no injuries to either man. While Marner has been able to stay healthy for the season, there are some serious concerns about Matthews' health especially going into the postseason, so it's a relief to hear their absence isn't injury related.

They both arguably deserve a break, as they have been on fire as of lately, and while the team has not been able to hold it together at points, the duo of Matthews and Marner have a combined 13 points over their last five games. It's not for a lack of trying, it's simply being unable to close out games.

They will be able to work on closing games out when they face off against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night, and try to keep the Pacific Division powerhouse at bay.

Let's just hope that it won't take 25 minutes for Marner or Matthews to make any sort of impact.