Worrying moment at the Bell Centre: at the very start of the game between the Canadian and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday evening, Patrik Laine remained lying on the ground for a long time, in pain, before being escorted off the ice.
Less than four minutes had passed when the forward made contact with Cédric Paré of the Leafs. During a power play, Laine crossed the opposing blue line in possession of the puck, and two players hit each other at knee height.
Laine actually held his left knee, his face tense, for several seconds before being able to get up. Moving with the help of teammates, he put no weight on his leg when coming off the ice. He furiously threw his helmet and gloves in the hallway leading to the locker room afterward.
We obviously cannot comment at this point on the exact nature of his injury or the convalescence that awaits the 26-year-old Finn.
He had a serious medical history when the Habs acquired him from the Columbus Blue Jackets a few weeks ago. He hoped to benefit from a fresh start in Montreal. This one, obviously, will have to wait.
A little earlier, during a sequence that had almost gone unnoticed, defender David Reinbacher had retreated to the locker room, also visibly injured in his left leg following contact with Marshall Rifai. We don’t know more about his case either. The Canadian only indicated that neither he nor Laine would return to the game this evening.
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
David Reinbacher (64)
In addition to Reinbacher, the Canadian will also have to deal without the services of Arber Xhekaj during the rest of the match. A few moments after Laine suffered his injury, Xhekaj rushed at Cédric Paré, whom he beat up before the Quebecer even had time to react.
The CH number 72 was immediately expelled from the match for extreme misconduct, in addition to receiving punishments for starting the fight and for fighting. The Leafs took advantage of their 7-minute power play to open the scoring.