Lyubushkin sustained a head injury but was seen walking around the locker room talking to teammates after the game.
Lyubushkin sustained a head injury but was seen walking around the locker room talking to teammates after the game.
Ilya Lyubushkin sustained a head injury in the second period of the Toronto Maple Leafs' 4-3 shootout win against the New York Rangers on Saturday.
Acquired two days ago in a three-way trade with the Anaheim Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes, the right-handed defenseman was hit hard along the boards by 6-foot-8 heavyweight rookie Matt Rempe late in the second period and did not return
Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe was careful in his words about the hit.
"(Rempe) comes a long way, leaves his fee, hits him in the head," he said.
There was no penalty on the play.
While it's hard to know the extent of a head injury when it occurs, Lyubushkin was seen around the locker room after the game talking to teammate Ilya Samsonov and Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving.
"I talked to him after the game and he's a little bit hurt," Samsonov said of Lyubushkin. "I think he's good."
In the third period, Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves fought Rempe in a much-anticipated brawl. Anytime Rempe and Reaves were engaged on the ice, the Scotiabank Arena crowd roared and jeered when an exchange did not result in a fight.
The Maple Leafs acquired Lyubushkin to help bolster the team's depth at right defense, so a setback like this will hurt the club in the short term. To their credit, they did enough to win a game against the top team in the Metropolitan Division, in what felt like a playoff atmosphere both on and off the ice.
How it went for Lybushkin before the injury
Lyubushin played a majority of the game with Morgan Rielly. The two players skated together in the Russian's first stint with the Leafs back in 2022. Known as the 'Russian Bear', Lyubushkin finished the game with 12:12 of ice time and four hits. He spent 8:27 of that was spent at 5-on-5 with Rielly. The Leafs allowed and scored a goal with both of them on the ice at even strength and had a 68 percent expected-goals rating as a pair, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
Related
News from THN.com
How Good is Pettersson's New Contract? And How Does the Tanev Trade Affect the Stars' Cup Chances?
Screen Shots: Islanders' 'Meh' Performance, Elias Pettersson's Extension Talks, Red Wings
Opinion: Maple Leafs' Draft Pick Trading is Recipe for Disaster, But It Could Be Worth It