Photo credit: Dan Hamilton Imagn images
Following their loss on Saturday night, Leafs’ head coach Craig Berube provided an update on Jake McCabe‘s status after he left the game against Montreal and did not return.
The Leafs can add another injured player to their ever-growing list after Saturday’s loss, and unfortunately, it’s another top-4 defenseman with a strong defensive presence in Jake McCabe.
McCabe Leaves After Taking Puck Up High
Midway through the second period, after a lengthy defensive shift that saw the Canadiens dominate the Leafs for almost 2 minutes, McCabe was finally able to leave the ice after taking a puck to the face, in very clear discomfort as well.
McCabe was the second defenseman for the Leafs to take a puck to the face in this one after Dakota Mermis took one up high in the first period.
While the Leafs escaped one injury, as Mermis returned to the game, they lost their most trusted defender as the 32-year-old McCabe was deemed unable to return to the game ahead of the third period.
Suggestions by the commentary team during the game were that McCabe may have suffered a broken jaw, which is the last thing the team needs at this point.
Berube Updates McCabe’s Status
From the comments Craig Berube made following another loss, it sounds like McCabe could be on the shelf for awhile.
“I don’t know the timeline of it right now, but bad enough that he couldn’t come back and play.”
McCabe is an absolute warrior and will not simply refuse to return if he is able to play through an injury, so the fact that he could not return and that Berube couldn’t say for sure how long he’d be sidelined is definitely concerning, especially with the team already down Brandon Carlo and Chris Tanev — two solid defensive defensemen.
With no game until Wednesday, the Leafs will have a few days to reevaluate a handful of their injured players, hopefully having a few of them return on Wednesday to help climb out of this horrendous slide.
Unfortunately, it won’t be Tanev, as the team has already confirmed that his injury will keep him out longer term. Carlo is still not skating either, making a return so quickly an unlikely proposition.
Previously on Toronto Hockey Daily