TORONTO — The Toronto Maple Leafs received some good news on Monday about the health of Travis Dermott after the defenceman was forced out of Saturday night’s game early.
Dermott was in obvious pain after taking a Ben Chiarot slap shot to his left foot/ankle area late in the first period against the Winnipeg Jets. Though he was able to skate off the ice under his own power, he was careful to avoid putting any weight on the area.
The 21-year-old was absent from Monday’s morning skate following an off-day for the team, and is considered day-to-day after x-rays came back negative.
“They did a CT scan and it was negative,” head coach Mike Babcock said after the morning skate. “Because of the spot it is, and because of the scan that’s done, it’s not broken. So now he’s walking around and all that, so we’ll give him a couple of days here and he should be up and running.”
Babcock did not give a return date. The Maple Leafs have just three games remaining on the regular-season schedule, including Monday’s matchup against the Buffalo Sabres.
Dermott has appeared in 36 games this season since making his debut on Jan. 6. He has a goal and 12 assists to his name and a plus-17 rating, injecting good speed and depth to a team preparing for a post-season run.
Dermott’s absence Monday also means we’ll be seeing some changes on the blue line, with Babcock switching up defensive pairings.
He’ll pair Nikita Zaitsev and Ron Hainsey together against the Sabres.
“[Zaitsev] and Hainsey play together quite a bit after power plays. We’re going to go with that tonight, to start, anyway, and see how it goes,” Babcock said. “Left and right shots, it gives us a chance to do something else.”
Leo Komarov also won’t be in the lineup Monday. Babcock said the forward will take a personal day, specifying that he isn’t injured, and will return for the final two games of the regular season. Matt Martin will suit up in his place.
[relatedlinks]