TORONTO — How swiftly the temper flipped.
Blows have been thrown. Our bodies tumbled. The gang roared.
These are the newly reformed stick-up-for-each-other Leafs, and the locals love an natural combat.
But when McCabe slowly gathered himself on the ice — helmet askew, visor as foggy as a Jetta’s windshield in January — and tried to face up, the defenceman stumbled like a knocked-down boxer. Morgan Rielly rapidly protected his teammate’s head from falling again down.
Whether or not McCabe was dazed by a punch, hitting the ice, or Hathaway squeezing in an additional knee after the ordeal doesn’t matter as a lot as his well being going ahead.
Simply as Toronto’s 3-2 additional time victory over the transitioning Philadelphia Flyers is of much less concern than the provision of 1 half of the membership’s finest shutdown pair.
“I didn’t prefer it. I didn’t like what I noticed,” coach Craig Berube mentioned. “He’s sticking up for his crew and his teammate. All of us actually respect that. However I don’t like seeing that occur.
“It’s regarding, for positive.”
Although McCabe did ultimately, fastidiously skate off the ice below his personal energy, he didn’t return to the sport as a result of what the crew is looking an “upper-body” damage.
When McCabe took a puck to the pinnacle and bought sidelined for 11 days in December, that was an “upper-body” damage, too.
He’ll bear additional analysis Monday, however the concept of sustaining two head accidents in a span of 36 days is hard to swallow for an necessary participant and an necessary season.
“Yeah, it’s powerful. I imply, everyone knows what kind of individual and participant he’s. And he sticks up for his teammates and pals, so it’s exhausting to see him go down like that,” Oliver Ekman-Larsson mentioned. “Hopefully he’s high-quality.”
If there’s a silver lining to the horrifying sight, it’s that the Atlantic-leading Maple Leafs maintain proving their skill to pile up W’s regardless of who hits IR.
Regardless of trying each bit like a squad taking part in shorthanded and on the sluggish half of a back-to-back, Toronto caught to a affected person plan in what Matthew Knies politely described as an “uneventful” sport.
The Leafs blocked 17 pictures, clogged the impartial zone like Ontario sinuses, and bided sufficient time for Auston Matthews to feed a streaking Rielly for the OT winner.
“It feels good. I assumed we performed nicely inside construction,” Rielly mentioned.
“You simply attempt to maintain your focus. Clearly, that’s your teammate. You need the most effective for him. However I feel he would need our guys to remain centered and keep within the sport.”
The Leafs’ knack for pushing via shut video games and damage woes has been their calling card throughout this four-game win streak and their 54-point first half of the season.
They’ll have to proceed discovering methods to win with their depth as they embark on this week’s mentors’ journey to Philadelphia and Carolina with McCabe’s well being doubtful.
Knies is ecstatic for his visitor, massive brother Phillip, who was taking part in in a Slovak league as just lately as 2022-23. And Matthews invited crowd-pleaser Joe Thornton, who was all smiles as he walked into his previous SBA dressing room post-win.
“He’s fairly near plenty of these guys from taking part in right here and stuff. So, it’s nice to have him with us,” Berube smiled.
“It’s nice for these (mentors), as a result of they like it. They love being within the conferences and listening to how we discuss and present video. So, it’s a particular journey.”
It’ll be that rather more particular if the Maple Leafs hear excellent news on McCabe.
• Sensible name by the Leafs switching from a relatively rusty-looking Matt Murray to prospect Hildeby because the starter on these back-to-backs.
Hildeby admitted to “a tough begin” by permitting Tyson Foerster to beat his blocker clear from distance on the 3:24 mark. However he settled proper down, stopping 31 of 33 pictures.
“Huge a part of the win,” Berube mentioned.
In the meantime, down on the farm, Murray gave up three on 23 pictures in a loss to the Cleveland Monsters.
The one draw back to Hildeby’s callup? It was too late for him to ask somebody on this week’s street journey.
“I’m my very own mentor,” he quipped, with a smile.
• Knies’ objective totals…
• McCabe and fellow Bash Brother Simon Benoit had a operating wager over which considered one of them would lastly rating a objective this season. McCabe snapped a magnificence Saturday in the win over Boston and celebrated like a richer man.
“I simply misplaced 100 bucks yesterday,” Benoit revealed to reporters Sunday morning. “Once we can contribute offensively, it’s all the time enjoyable.”
Don’t look now, however three Leafs defencemen scored over the weekend.
• Walked to the rink excited for my first stay have a look at Matvei Michkov. Hardly seen he was dressed, aside from a inventive over-the-net move that went nowhere. His stat line: zero factors, two pictures, minus-1 in 14 minutes. Shrug.
The Flyers’ Calder candidate has cooled proper off: one objective and a dash-11 score over his previous 13 video games.
• Brad Treliving would like buying and selling for a centre with time period.
With the Flyers open to promoting, the defensively accountable Scott Laughton ($3 million cap hit via 2025-26) is value a dialog. He scored the tying objective Sunday and led all forwards with 4 pictures.
The 30-year-old Oakville, Ont., native hasn’t participated within the playoffs for 5 years. He doesn’t have commerce safety.
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