Miro Heiskanen had his first game back on Tuesday after an eleven game absence due to mononucleosis. The expectation was to pay him in “limited” minutes (15-16), but he ended up with 19:56 in ice time:
“He wanted to play more,” [head coach Rick] Bowness said. “We were holding him back. It was a couple of minutes more than we wanted, but he kept telling us, ‘I feel great, I feel great.’ He wanted more ice time, but we’ve been told to watch the minutes.
Heiskanen obviously wasn’t back to 100%, but it sure didn’t look like it — though he was held off the scoresheet, he was one of the most impactful players in the team’s 3-2 win:
“He’s probably our best player still, he’s huge for us,” said forward Tyler Seguin of the impact of a less-than-100 percent Heiskanen.