The New York Islanders will finish their contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs shorthanded. According to a team announcement, both Calum Ritchie and Matias Maccelli have exited the game with lower-body injuries.
Ritchie hardly played tonight. Maple Leafs defenseman Nick Blankenburg hit him on his first shift, and he didn’t return. With Mathew Barzal recovering from injury, Ritchie centers the Islanders’ second line and has contributed a goal and an assist in eight games.
Meanwhile, Maccelli left the game after 5:39 of ice time. It is not confirmed whether this caused the injury, but Maccelli appears to have suffered a leg injury after getting tangled up with defenseman Darren Raddysh. Maccelli was playing on New York’s first line tonight.
Additional notes from the Eastern Conference:
According to Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen, the Ottawa Senators are targeting Wednesday for defenseman Jake Sanderson’s return. Sanderson has not played since Ottawa’s opening-night contest. Although it’s always imperative for the Senators to have Sanderson in the lineup, it’ll be extra important on Wednesday. Ottawa will host the Florida Panthers, meaning Brady Tkachuk will be in the building.
Still looking for their first win of the season, the Philadelphia Flyers are doing so without winger Owen Tippett. Before tonight’s game, Jordan Hall of NBCS reported that Tippett was a game-time decision due to an upper-body injury, and he did not make the lineup. Tippett has scored a goal and an assist in nine games this season.
After assigning forward Dakota Joshua to a conditioning loan yesterday, the Maple Leafs are doing the same with defenseman Cade Webber today (AHL transactions log). Webber began the season on Toronto’s long-term injured reserve due to offseason elbow surgery. He registered three assists in 33 games for the AHL’s Toronto Marlies last year.