Maple Leafs Defender Jake McCabe Leaves Game With Devastating Injury Against Flyers

Late in the first period with the Leafs up 2-1 over the Philadelphia Flyers, Jake McCabe took exception to Garnet Hathaway running into Dennis Hildeby. McCabe delivered a couple of shots to Hathaway while he was down on the ice and stood over him exchanging words while he got up.

When Hathaway got to his feet, the two dropped the gloves, with McCabe getting the worst of it. At the end of the fight, McCabe lost his balance and fell backwards, pulling Hathaway with him. The motion caused Hathaway to land on McCabe's head as well as McCabe slamming the back of his head onto the ice.

McCabe sat on the ice dazed for a few moments and was checked out by the trainer before eventually making his way off the ice under his own power.

According to The Hockey News' David Alter, McCabe seemed to be alert heading down the hall to the dressing room, which is good news.

Given the fact that McCabe missed five games earlier this season after taking a puck to the head, it seems likely that he will miss some more time.

McCabe has been ruled out by the Leafs for the remainder of the game, which means the Leafs will play the 2nd and 3rd periods with just 5 defenders.

Hopefully, the Leafs holding McCabe out is purely precautionary, but we should have more of an update following the game from Craig Berube. Considering how wobbly McCabe was, a concussion appears to be the most likely outcome here, unfortunately.