Jake McCabe's Stat Line in Return for Maple Leafs Turns Heads in Toronto

Jake McCabe had been sidelined for nearly 2 weeks after he was forced out of his contest against the Philadelphia Flyers due to an upper-body injury.

The veteran blueliner had landed awkwardly on the ice after a fight with Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway and was placed on the IR the following day.

In his absence the Maple Leafs had difficulties in beating the Flyers and then endured a 3-game losing streak where they were outscored 13-4 as they headed into their home matchup against the New Jersey Devils last night.

McCabe flourished right off the bat with an incredible stat line on Thursday, as he registered 2 assists, 2 hits, 5 shots, 5 blocked shots, a plus-3 rating, and a game-high 24:16 TOI during their 4-3 overtime victory against the Devils.

The veteran defenseman earned his first assist on Auston Matthews' game tying goal with less than 5 minutes remaining in regulation as well as a secondary helper on William Nylander's overtime winner. His 24:16 TOI was nearly 2 minutes more than anyone on New Jersey's back-end.

McCabe has put up a very quietly underrated campaign for the Maple Leafs this season as he now has 13 points in 37 games, a plus-13 rating, 20:57 ATOI, 73 blocked shots, and 74 hits. He is second on the team in blocked shots and plus-minus, second amongst his defensive peers in hits, and his 12 assists are the 7th most on the team.

His return to the ice was a sight for sore eyes after three tough losses, 2 of which came on home-ice and drew the ire of the fan base.

The Maple Leafs end the month of January with a relatively tough schedule and his presence in the lineup should help against the likes of Montreal, Columbus, and Tampa Bay.

Expect more of the same from their steady top-pair defenseman tomorrow night when the Leafs head out on the road to face a suddenly hot Montreal Canadiens team that has won 8 of their last 10 games.