Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jordie Benn skates for the first time since suffering a groin injury in the preseason. Jordie Benn had worked his way back from a groin injury sustained in the pre-season when he was thrust into action at a time of need. The Toronto Maple Leafs were already without Jake Muzzin (cervical spine issue) when TJ Brodie had taken himself out of the warmups ahead of their game on Nov. 12 with an oblique injury. Benn made his season debut that night and became an immediate hit with his play on the ice and in his personality in the dressing room. "I think the personality is a big one," Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe said of Benn following a 5-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 15. "It's not often you can add a depth defenseman like that to come in when you have injuries and step right in and bring life to your room and your bench. That's part of who he is." Six days later, the Leafs were dealt another blow when Morgan Rielly injured his knee in a game against the New York Islanders. A couple of days after that, the injury bug bit Benn again, and nothing seemed to provoke it. "I just made a play on the blue line and felt something and threw it down low back to Willy [William Nylander] and felt it again when I rotated," Benn recalled. "And then on the next shift, I had to make a long stretch pass and I was like 'there's something going on.'" Benn's game appeared to be over at that point, but he surprised many when he came back to the bench for the start of the third period. He admitted that the last-ditch attempt to come back in the game was motivated by how paper-thin Toronto's defense had become "I definitely didn't want to f*** off on anybody, it felt like after every game we were dropping one D-man a game," he said following Monday's practice. "So when I wasn't feeling good I was like, 'I gotta try to keep going here'". Benn applied some tape and wraps to the affected area, but it proved to be ineffective. However, in his two shifts, the 35-year-old managed to block an 18-foot snapshot from Devils forward Jack Hughes. Toronto went on to snap the Devils' 13-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory. Always candid and physical when necessary, Benn ingratiated himself with the Leafs quickly and never felt openly down about going through his second injury in such a short time in Toronto. "I've been around long that sh**'s going to happen," he said. "Mentally, yeah, it's frustrating. You don't want to get hurt but it is what it is. There's no point in sulking about it. Just get healthy and keep working out." Benn took part in his first full practice with the Maple Leafs on Monday. He'll have a bag skate on Tuesday and will not be in the lineup for when the team hosts the Anaheim Ducks. But he could return soon after that should a change to the lineup become necessary. "We're going to take our time with him with the type of injury that he had," Keefe said on Monday. "We're pretty content with our defense the way it looks right now so we're going to make sure he's absolutely sure he's ready to go before he gets in."
