Timothy Liljegren Suffers Upper-Body Injury as Maple Leafs' Defensive Depth Challenged Again in 3-2 Overtime Loss to Predators

Originally posted on Toronto Maple Leafs on SI
By David Alter | Last updated 10/28/23

NASHVILLE — If there's any reason for the Toronto Maple Leafs to be pleased following a 3-2 overtime loss against the Nashville Predators on Saturday, it's that they can finally get home before they lose another defenseman,

Already without defenseman Jake McCabe, who injured his groin in Toronto's 4-1 win against the Dallas Stars on Thursday, the Maple Leafs were down to five defensemen for the second of Saturday's contest after Timothy Liljegren was hit along the boards by Predators forward Yakov Trenin and would not return.

"I haven't heard anything, all we know is that it's an upper-body injury and we'll get him assessed when we get home," Keefe said after the game.

The Maple Leafs leaned heavily on other defensemen going into the game. William Lagesson made his team debut in place of McCabe but was seldom used until Liljegren left the game.

"I thought he did an admirable job stepping in when we needed him to play big minutes," Keefe said of Lagesson.

The good news for Toronto came earlier in the day when Keefe revealed that McCabe won't be away from the lineup for a long time. Mark Giordano was leaned in an elevated role and it became a challenge as fatigue from a long trip and a consistent change of defensive partners made for a bit of a bit of a challenge for a club that has spent the last 11 days away from home.

"You like playing a lot but switching partners all the time you’ve got to talk, you’ve got to be aware of who you’re out with," Giordano said. "More lefty-right for me. When I’m out there I want to know if it’s a lefty or righty I’m playing with."

Giordano logged a team-high 20:29 minutes. He scored his first goal of the season that put the Leafs up 2-1 in the second period but was critical of his penalty kill as Ryan O'Reilly was able to get his stick under him for a deflection into the net to tie the game.

"Gio’s certainly got to get that stick but there’s some things that happened before that that allows the puck to even get into that space," Keefe said.

Morgan Rielly has shouldered much of the ice time over the last two games, logging consecutive season-high ice times of 26:13 27:48, respectively.

At even strength, the Maple Leafs played a decent game, holding 59 percent of the expected goals, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

The Leafs play the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. There should be an additional update on Liljegren's health on Monday.

And while it's good news for the Leafs to escape a long trip with a 3-1-1 record, Toronto's depth on defense is about to get its toughest test yet if Liljegren is out for any amount of time.

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This article first appeared on Toronto Maple Leafs on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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