The Toronto Maple Leafs‘ injury list has started to look more like a grocery list over the past week or so, but they’ll have a little bit of relief when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. Forward Scott Laughton is expected to return to the lineup after suffering an injury in a home game against the Boston Bruins a couple of weeks ago.

Speaking to the media ahead of his return, Laughton talked about his energy and how he’s looking to feed off of linemates Easton Cowan and Steven Lorentz.

“We’ve chatted about it already a little bit this morning, I’m just going to find that again and continue to talk,” Laughton said when asked about his chemistry with Lorentz and Cowan from preseason. “I’ve been playing with Stevie [Lorentz] since I got here, Cowboy [Easton Cowan] has been playing with a lot of energy, and we’ve got to continue that.”

Laughton was at his best when playing alongside Lorentz down the stretch of last season and into the playoffs, and those two paired with Cowan provided some intrigue after a solid preseason. Obviously, they didn’t get to play with eachother after Laughton went down with an injury, but he said that he understands the job his line has to do.

“Read off each other and play with energy,” Laughton continued. “Play with speed, be good on the forecheck, kind of change momentum in games and keeping teams in the O-zone, things like that.”

Laughton missed the first month of the season after blocking a shot with his foot in preseason, and he was injured in just his second game back after taking a hit from Boston Bruins defenceman Nikita Zadorov. When asked about his reaction to the hit, he brushed it off and said he took more issue with some of the hits in the second game between the two teams.

“I honestly thought he was backing up when I took a peek,” Laughton explained. “He stepped up, I lost the puck a little bit and he’s 6-foot-7, so there’s going to be some contact there and he got the best of me. I had more of an issue with a couple of his other hits in Boston, but yeah, I thought it was a clean hit.”

Laughton was then asked if Zadorov had reached out to him at all following the hit.

“No, I wouldn’t really want him to, either.”

Laughton is no stranger to adversity in Toronto, first battling it with himself, and now he returns to the lineup at a time where the Leafs are expected to string some wins together after recently snapping a five-game winless streak on Tuesday night. Despite this, he’s feeling good and excited to return and contribute.

“I feel good about my game,” he said. “I feel good about where my energy is, my comfortability and everything like that. So, just need to get in here and get going a little bit, help these guys out.”

The Maple Leafs have one more game at home before they hit the road for a six-game trip away from Scotiabank Arena, and Laughton is ready to jump in and help swing the pendulum back in their favour.

“Those kinds of wins kind of bring you together throughout the season and can change the momentum and things like that, so it was a big win for us. We’ve got to keep it rolling here.”

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