Maple Leafs' Chris Tanev Injured Versus Rangers, Appears to Avoid the Worst

Near the end of the second period and with the New York Rangers buzzing on the power play, Tanev laid out to block a Mika Zibanejad slap-shot. The shot hit him around the soft tissue area of the knee and he immediately left the ice in obvious pain and went straight to the locker room, putting very little pressure on his injured leg.

It was a tough scene as Tanev was in clear distress and went straight down the tunnel to the Leafs' locker room.

There's no question that losing Tanev would be a tough pill to swallow for the Maple Leafs, who locked up the veteran defenseman to a 6-year contract this past summer, which carries a $4.5M cap hit.

The Toronto native has averaged 20 minutes a night, had recorded 13 blocked shots and 1 hit in 4 contests, and had 2 more blocked shots in tonight's game in 11:50 TOI.

Tanev did not come back to begin the third period, which is not a good sign. Unfortunately, we likely won't receive more information until after the game.

**Update, 9:01pm ET, Tanev has returned to the Maple Leafs' bench**