Maple Leafs’ Jake McCabe avoids serious injury but advises young NHLers

TORONTO — Jake McCabe doesn’t believe Kent Johnson intended to nearly take out his left eye, but that doesn’t mean he’s giving the 24-year-old Columbus Blue Jackets forward a complete forgive-and-forget pass.

“I'll be honest. I think guys can take better care of their sticks, for sure,” McCabe said Thursday morning, sporting a gruesome bruise, a broken blood vessel and a patched cut over his left eye.

“Obviously it's an accident. You know, I'm not going to fault him for that.

But just a general consensus: I've gotten a couple high sticks last three, four games, and they seem to be from younger players. So, keep your stick down.”

Johnson had full control of his stick near the Toronto Maple Leafs’ blueline Tuesday as McCabe skated towards his check to force a first-period dump-in. Johnson finished unnecessarily high with his blade, slicing the rugged defenceman underneath his visor.

McCabe covered his eye, rushed off the ice and did not return to the game, a convincing 6-2 Leafs win. Johnson was handed a double minor for high-sticking.

McCabe’s eye swelled something fierce.

“Jake’s a tough character,” acknowledged D-line partner Darren Raddysh. “After I saw the replay of that, I thought: Oh, my God, that didn't look good.

And seeing him now, I think that the docs helped him out pretty good there.

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“It was a pretty bad cut. But Jake’s an unbelievable defenceman.

He's played for a long time, and he's made a great career of the way he plays. And it just shows how tough he is.

He’s probably not going to miss a game just from what happened.”

Thankfully, McCabe’s injury, though frightening at the time, isn’t severe enough to keep him out of Thursday match versus the New York Rangers.

“Certainly panic for a couple seconds and was able to open it up quick and see that I could see still,” said McCabe, thanking Leafs head athletic therapist Paul Ayotte and the Jackets doctors for taking care of him.

“The score was 4-1 or 5-1 when I got done getting checked up. And obviously sitting for a whole another period, the swelling in my eye felt like it was probably just smart to stay off.”

Raddysh agrees with McCabe that the next wave of NHLers, most of whom grew up wearing full cages, are prone to more carelessness with their blades.

“Guys have been known to do that. But for myself, I just try to keep my head in a good position and just make sure I'm putting myself in good spots and not giving myself the chance to get in those (accidents).

But some things happen like that, and obviously that was the case last game. (Johnson) didn't mean to do that, but it happened,” Raddysh said.

“When you do have a cage on, you're kind of fearless and you can do what you want. You get high-sticked, you're not going to feel it.

So maybe not as wary as you’d like. I think as guys start to realize, you got to be careful your sticks.”

One-Timers: Defenceman Marshall Rifai left morning skate early and is “dealing with something,” according to coach Jim Hiller. If he can’t go, Nick Blankenburg will draw in ….

Artur Akhtyamov was returned to the Toronto Marlies after backing up Monday and Tuesday …. Darren Raddysh led the morning stretch ahead of his brotherly showdown versus Taylor’s Rangers….

New York’s No. 1 overall pick Alexis Lafreniere comes into town hot. His seven goals, 13 points, plus-3 rating, and 19 minutes of average ice time put him on pace for career highs across the board.

Maple Leafs projected lineup Thursday vs. Rangers:

Maple Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe in lineup vs. Rangers