The Toronto Maple Leafs will hold their breath after forward Kirill Marchenko exited Monday night’s game against the Calgary Flames with a lower-body injury. Marchenko sustained the injury on a hit from Flames forward Yegor Sharangovich.
The hit bent his left leg awkwardly as he slid into the boards. Marchenko stretched his leg on the bench and attempted to return to the game but immediately turned around and headed towards the locker room per David Alter of The Hockey News.
Losing Marchenko would deal a major blow to the Toronto offense. He was one of three Maple Leafs scoring above a point-per-game rate, entering Monday’s game with 14 points in 13 games.
His absence would likely promote reigning first-overall pick Gavin McKenna back into Toronto’s top-six. McKenna has scored a productive eight points in 13 games to start his career.
Finding out details of Marchenko’s injury will become the headline of Toronto’s week ahead.
Other notes from Monday night:
Also exiting the Toronto, Calgary matchup was Flames forward Aydar Suniev, who sustained an apparent head injury in the first period. The injury specifically occurred on a tie-up with Maple Leafs forward Easton Cowan per Sportsnet’s Eric Francis.
Suniev has been a bright storyline for the rebuilding Flames, with three goals and four points through the first seven games of what is likely to be his NHL rookie season. He would leave a hole next to Morgan Frost and Sharangovich should he need to miss time due to an injury.
That could mean more minutes for Matvei Gridin who scored two goals on Monday.
Ottawa Senators captain Thomas Chabot is nearing a return to the team per Bruce Garrioch of Ottawa Citizen. Chabot returned to full practice on Monday and could be an option for Ottawa’s upcoming five-game road trip.
His return would give Ottawa a full-strength blue-line for the first time this season – with each of Chabot, Jake Sanderson, and Artem Zub healthy. Chabot scored four points in nine games before he sustained his injury.