The pre-season game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens saw a lot of action early.
Saturday’s game opened with Canadiens defenceman David Reinbacher heading for the locker room, seemingly limping and in considerable pain, after taking a hit from Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies.
Then, just a few minutes later, new Canadien Patrik Laine got the worst of a knee-on-knee collision with opponent Cedric Pare.
The star forward stayed down on the ice after the hit, clutching his knee as a team trainer attended to him. He then had to be helped off the ice by two teammates, keeping pressure off his left leg. As he made his way to the locker room, Laine was also seen throwing off his helmet and gloves in frustration.
Following Laine’s exit, Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhejaj went after Pare, receiving fighting and instigator penalties, as well as a game misconduct, which ended his night early and gave the Maple Leafs a seven-minute power play.
The loss of these three players all took place within the first five minutes of Saturday’s game.
And with Reinbacher still in the room at this point, the Canadiens were left with just four defencemen to play on with.
