Leafs send blueliner down to the Marlies

The loss in Washington marks the second consecutive regulation loss for the Leafs this season and just their 2nd time in over a month where they didn't collect at least a point in a game, which is crazy when you consider the fact that they're still missing two of their top-4 defenseman in Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin.

Following an injury scare for Timothy Liljegren on Thursday, the Leafs called up rookie defenseman Mac Hollowell from the Toronto Marlies as an insurance option for the team in case he or another blueliner couldn't go on Saturday in Washington. Now, with that game out of the way, Hollowell has been returned to the Marlies.

Hollowell didn't end up playing on this brief call-up, but it must be encouraging for the young defenseman to be someone that the Leafs trust enough to have him come up and be on standby. Unfortunately, with T.J. Brodie back in the lineup and Jordie Benn nearing his return, ice time with the big club may be tough to come by for Hollowell going forward. It will be even tougher when Rielly returns to the lineup next month.