Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Jake McCabe appears to have avoided serious injury after taking a stick to the eye Tuesday night but called on players to be more careful regarding high sticks.
The Leafs’ blueliner met with reporters after Thursday’s gameday skate sporting an ugly bruise around his left eye and let on he was a tad annoyed by the injury when asked.
“A little bit, yeah, I’ll be honest,” McCabe said. “I think guys can take better care of their sticks for sure. But obviously, it’s an accident. You know, I’m not going to fault him for that.
“But just a general consensus. I’ve gotten a couple high sticks the last three, four games, and they seem to be from younger players. So, keep your stick down.”
McCabe left Tuesday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets after Kent Johnson caught him up high while attempting to brace for a hit along the boards. A bloodied McCabe was forced to leave the game but said Thursday he was feeling much better.
“Certainly panic for a couple seconds, and was able to open it up quick and see that I could see still,” he said describing the injury.
“Just a little bit of swelling right away obviously and yesterday, but it feels a lot better today.”
Head coach Jim Hiller called McCabe’s early exit “precautionary” on Wednesday.
“It’s always a bit scary when it happens up high and I think he’s doing alright. But obviously, you never want to see that happen,” teammate Morgan Rielly said Wednesday.
The 33-year-old blueliner was back on his regular spot on the Leafs’ top defensive pairing alongside Darren Raddysh at their gameday skate ahead of Thursday’s tilt against the New York Rangers.
McCabe is still looking for his first point this season in 11 games while playing an average of 18:43 of ice time per game.
Rifai exits Maple Leafs practice
Meanwhile, defenceman Marshall Rifai departed practice early and was replaced on the third pairing by Nick Blankenburg.
Rifai scored his first NHL goal in Tuesday’s 6-2 win over Columbus, finding the back of the net on a slap shot near the end of the third period.
Toronto enters play Thursday 5-4-2 for 12 points in 11 games.