Injuries hit as playoffs near
Wingers McMann, Domi both likely to miss final two games
Maple Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe was sporting a shiner on his left eye, stitches below and above, at practice Monday. It was an example not only of the beating he has taken in harm’s way, but the dangers of getting injured just before the playoffs.
“I got lucky. It was kind of scary with the eyes, but I feel fine,” McCabe said. “I can see fine. Everything’s fine, nothing’s broken.”
McCabe stopped a Dylan Larkin shot with his face in the second period against the Red Wings on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena.
“Obviously, you’d like to avoid the eyeball, but sometimes this happens,” said McCabe. “You keep moving on.”
Teammates call him a warrior for the way he plays.
“He’s in the mix with everything that’s going on and doesn’t give much for free,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “And in that case, obviously he’s putting himself in harm’s way. And when you do that, bad things can happen.
“I’m thrilled that he seems to be OK. I don’t know how many stitches that face has taken this season, but it’s been a lot. And I don’t know if they’ve been able to talk him into putting on a full shield or not — he’s worn it in practice — but he just keeps on going.”
While McCabe was fine, Saturday night’s game was costly in other ways.
Wingers Bobby McMann won’t play the final two road games against Florida and Tampa, while Max Domi will definitely miss Tuesday’s date with the Panthers and most likely the finale against the Lightning.
The Leafs didn’t disclose injury details. McMann has a history of groin trouble, but appeared to twist a knee on Saturday. Domi missed Friday’s practice with an ongoing issue, but told Keefe he couldn’t make it worse if he played Saturday.
“He felt it wasn’t going to have an effect on his play,” Keefe said. “I don’t think that was necessarily the case. It’s not any worse or anything. It’s now about managing it.”
With Calle Järnkrok (hand) still sidelined — he took part in only the penalty-killing portion of Monday’s practice — the Leafs only have 12 healthy forwards, so any talk of sitting stars in the name of load management would seem to be moot.
That’s good news for anyone who wants to see Auston Matthews get to 70 goals (he’s at 69) or William Nylander reach 100 points (he’s at 97).
The absence of two top-line forwards meant the return of some familiar lines. Mitch Marner was back with Matthews and Tyler Bertuzzi; Matthew Knies was back with John Tavares and Nylander. Tavares said players can’t worry about getting hurt.
“Personally I don’t think you can play the game that way,” Tavares said. “It’s too competitive, too high a level. It puts you just in the wrong mindset, and bad habits can develop. Maybe you’re exposing yourself more. You’ve got to go out there the same way, prepare like you do and execute and compete.”
It leaves Keefe with a lineup that’s more patchwork than the one he’ll want to start the playoffs.
“In the case of injured players, you’d like to have them out and get them back up and running again,” Keefe said. “But in terms of having things set, we’ve worked through a lot of different things. Our guys are comfortable whatever the situation is.
“I believe we, as a group, respond well and when things move around, so I’m not concerned about that in that sense. Right now it’s more about managing our group and finishing up the schedule.”
Joseph Woll is expected to start in net on Tuesday, with a decision for the finale still pending.
The Leafs are expected to open the playoffs Saturday.
While the injury bug has hit the forwards, the defence will actually get a chance to rest. All eight are healthy and expected to get into at least one of the final two games.
“I think every team would prefer to be healthy,” McCabe said, “but the nature of our game is that’s not really possible. We like the depth that we have in our room and a lot of guys have been stepping up all year for us, so that doesn’t change this year down the stretch.”