TORONTO — Defenseman Kevin Klein, who looked fine in the morning skate at Air Canada Center, was a surprise scratch Thursday with an upper-body injury, the team announced.
The first indication came when Klein was not on the ice for warmups. Spare blueliner Adam Clendening took Klein’s spot on the third pair with Brady Skjei. Klein had the flu last week and also didn’t dress against the Islanders in Brooklyn.
Klein is 3-11-14 in 54 games, much lower numbers than in the last two seasons when he scored nine goals each year. It was Clendening’s 22nd game of the season; he had one goal and eight points before Thursday night.