Leafs captain Tavares returns to ice one week after frightening injury

After the frightening scene during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares returned to the ice ahead of Thursday’s practice.

Just seven days after he sustained both a head and knee injury, the 30-year-old did roughly 18 minutes worth of light skating and skills work at Scotiabank Arena. It's an almost miraculous turnaround after last week's incident.

The initial consensus was that Tavares would require at least two weeks to recover from his injuries, but due to the nature of concussions, the timeline is foggy at best. Participating in some amount of practice is a good sign, but he certainly will remain out for the rest of the series against the Canadiens.

Toronto is hosting Montreal for Game 5 on Thursday, as the Leafs hope to finish the series once and for all after earning the 4-0 shutout win on Tuesday and going up 3-1 in the first-round matchup. If they come out on top on Thursday, it will be the Leafs’ first playoff series win since 2004.

In 56 regular season games, Tavares scored 19 goals and 50 points, good for third on the team in scoring.

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