Another Key Piece Sidelined for the Maple Leafs, as the Worst is Confirmed for John Tavares
The injuries keep on coming for the Maple Leafs as John Tavares confirmed out following hit from Montreal’s Michael Pezzetta.
It’s been a rough training camp in Toronto with several players suffering unfortunate injuries, including 3 members of the Leafs’ Core 4. Auston Matthews is already sidelined with an undisclosed upper-body ailment that is believed to be minor. William Nylander was struck in the head and left Thursday’s game not to return, and now, John Tavares is absent for Friday’s skate after Habs forward Michael Pezzetta took a run at him, making a lot of knee contact in the process.
Following last night’s victory over the Canadiens, Tavares spoke about his injury, revealing that as the game went on, he felt less and less comfortable, which ultimately led to Craig Berube shutting him down early for the evening.
On Friday, the Leafs made the official announcement that Tavares will indeed join Calle Jarnkrok on the sidelines as both players are currently dealing with lower-body injuries. Alex Steeves also listed as day-to-day on the team’s official injury report.
The good news for the Leafs is that Auston Matthews skated with the main group for awhile on Thursday, and he will also skate today, indicating that he could be an option for the Leafs’ Saturday night grudge match in Montreal.
Hopefully the Leafs can avoid any further injury issues as we approach the second half of their training camp and pre-season, with 3 games down and 3 games to go before opening night.