Toronto Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies and defenceman Troy Stecher were both absent from Tuesday’s practice, TSN’s Mark Masters reports.

After practice, head coach Craig Berube stated that he expects Knies to play Wednesday’s game agains the Detroit Red Wings.

Knies was a game-time decision for Monday’s contest against the Minnesota Wild. The 23-year-old later revealed that he’s been playing through an injury and requires rest in between games.

“It’s one of those that the more you play, the more wear and tear on it, it’s not really going to get better,” Knies said following Monday’s loss. “The Christmas break obviously helped a lot. It’s a pretty tough schedule we have right now, playing every other day. Recovery is pretty important.”

“It’s been honestly shitty. But I gotta do my best to prepare as best as I can.”

“It will help for sure with rest,” Berube said post-game. “Right now, he doesn’t have the luxury of rest. We’ve tried to keep him off the ice, even on game day skates. I thought he competed hard tonight and did some good things. He’s fighting through it, which is good to see.”

Jacob Quillan replaced Knies on the second line, joining Matias Maccelli and John Tavares. Quillan was called up Monday, and has not recorded a point in three games with the Maple Leafs this year.

Stecher played 16:24 during Monday’s game without incident. Philippe Myers replaced Stecher in practice, paired with Simon Benoit, while Matt Benning skated among the alternates.

Joseph Woll is the projected starter for Wednesday’s game. Woll was pulled from Monday’s game after allowing five goals on 24 shots. Dennis Hildeby replaced Woll for the start of the third period.

John Gibson will start for the Detroit Red Wings in Wednesday’s game. Gibson has posted a 19-9-1 record with a .902 save percentage this season.