Auston Matthews is back and the signs of his return were evident after his skate with teammates on Long Island. PHILADELPHIA — The Toronto Maple Leafs have placed defenseman Jake McCabe on injured reserve and called up Marshall Rifai from the Toronto Marlies, the club announced via X on Monday. McCabe was injured after he was engaged in a fight with Philadelphia Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway in Toronto's 3-2 overtime win on Sunday. The Leafs defenseman was coming to defense of Dennis Hildeby, after the Flyers forward bumped into the Maple Leafs goaltender. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z995hw31oWk[/embed] During the fight, Hathaway fell awkwardly on McCabe, who appeared to hit his head. The Leafs defenseman looked dazed as teammate Morgan Rielly helped McCabe stay upright. McCabe left the game following the incident in the first period and did not return. Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube expressed concern for his defenseman, considering McCabe had already missed five games this season after taking a puck to the head/neck area against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 30. After initially thinking McCabe would "be fine" following the incident, the player stayed out of the lineup. There was no timeline for McCabe's injury. However, due to being placed on injured reserve, the 31-year-old defenseman will be forced to miss a minimum of the club's next three games against the Flyers on Tuesday, the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday and at home against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. Following the hit, Max Domi took a penalty for elbowing Hathaway. The Leafs forward was given a $5,000 fine on Monday for his action by the NHL's Department of Player Safety. McCabe has one goal and 10 assists in 36 games this season, averaging 20:52 of ice time per game. In October, McCabe signed a five-year extension that carries an annual salary cap hit of $4.51 million and kicks in at the beginning of the 2025-26 season. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjExNjM5NDEwNTc4NDM0MDI0/googlenews.svg] Stay updated with the most interesting Maple Leafs stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwytvfCA?ceid=CA:en&oc=3] to never miss a story.
