Maple Leafs Could Be Facing Another Tough Injury Concern

The Toronto Maple Leafs could be looking at the loss of another key piece of the club.

On Tuesday night, defenseman Jake McCabe took a dangerous high stick during the period of the Leafs’ 6-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Prudential Center.

The injury occurred when the follow-through on a dump-in by Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson rode up and caught McCabe right under the visor.

McCabe left the game and did not return. As expected, there is no update on McCabe’s current situation. The concern here has to be an eye injury. If that’s the case, it could be potentially devastating for the McCabe and the Maple Leafs.

The veteran blueliner played just 4:15 across six shifts. The Maple Leafs adjusted the defensive pairs, with Troy Stecher playing a team-high 26:25 on the night.

The Maple Leafs are already down defenseman Chris Tanev, McCabe’s defense partner, and center John Tavares. Adding another defenseman to injury list will make it challenging for the club to weather the storm.

Here’s hoping that the situation on Tuesday night was nothing more than just an awful scare.

Maple Leafs Get Strong Showing from Marshall Rifai

Toronto gave call-up Marshall Rifai a look in the second leg of the back-to-back set. The 28-year-old played his second game of the season, taking over for Nick Blankenburg.

And Rifai did not disappoint.

The blueliner scored his first NHL goal, a blast from the point that beat Cam Talbot.

Talbot came in midway through the second period after the Maple Leafs chased Columbus starter Jet Greaves with four goals in under 10 minutes.

Rifai’s blast appeared to have hit Auston Matthews in front of the net. However, there was no evidence to award the goal to the Maple Leafs captain. So, it stood as Rifai’s first goal in The Bigs, and capped off what was a strong showing.

The Leafs won on consecutive nights, after defeating the San Jose Sharks the night before at Scotiabank Arena.

Rifai Should Get More Playing Time in McCabe’s Absence

Jake McCabe won’t have much time to heal before the Maple Leafs’ next game. The Leafs will head back home on Thursday night to face the hot New York Rangers. Assuming McCabe’s injury is serious enough to keep him out of the lineup for a few days, Marshall Rifai should get more playing time.

Likewise, Blankenburg should return to the lineup as well.

Considering that the Maple Leafs have now won two games in a row, the club is building momentum despite the sudden rash of injuries.

Assuming that McCabe’s injury situation is just a day-to-day thing, the Leafs could be looking at deploying their depth blueliners for the next batch of games. Toronto will be playing four games in six nights, before getting a bit of a breather next week.

This will be a tough stretch for Toronto, in which its depth up front and on the back end will prove crucial, if the club is to remain pushing for a playoff spot this season.

This article was originally published on HEAVY

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