Carsen Twarynski, the 21-year-old rookie forward with the Flyers, was showered and changed and in a hallway outside the visiting dressing room. He had just completed the 11th game of his NHL career, and he had co-starred in a video highlight that would be replayed long after the team charter left town.
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“I hope he’s all right,” he said. “You never like to see guys go down awkward like that.”
Twarynski had gotten tangled with Leafs forward Mitch Marner off a faceoff in the second period of Saturday night’s game at Scotiabank Arena. His stick ended up between Marner’s legs, and the blade found its way beneath Marner’s left skate, sending him down to the ice.
“He stepped on it,” Twarynski said, “and went down awkwardly.”
In the highlight — which looks more painful the slower it is played — Marner’s left leg kicks out as he falls to the ice, and his right foot is stuck behind. As he falls, the full weight of the impact seems to land on that twisted right knee and the ankle.
Marner quickly pushed himself back up to his hands and knees and tried to stand up. When that failed, he went back down to his knees and pushed himself to the bench with his left foot. From a distance, it looked like he had lost a skate blade or suffered another kind of equipment malfunction.
The damage was greater than a new piece of steel.
Marner will not be available to the Leafs when they face the Blackhawks in Chicago on Sunday. Coach Mike Babco*ck made the announcement as the dust was still settling on the 3-2 shootout loss that ended Toronto’s hopeful three-game winning streak.
The team initially announced Marner had injured his ankle. It is not clear how much time he might be forced to miss. He has not missed a single regular-season game since his rookie season.
“What are you going to do? It’s hockey; injuries happen and you find out more about other guys,” Babco*ck said. “I don’t know the extent of this. I don’t know if it’s a few days or weeks or whatever. There’s no sense in dwelling on it.”
He moved Kasperi Kapanen up to play with captain John Tavares in Marner’s absence Saturday night, and he has one spare forward on the roster who he can use to plug the hole on the road Sunday. Veteran Jason Spezza watched from the press box as a healthy scratch.
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The Leafs had been anticipating the possibility of dressing a full roster for the first time this season, as forward Zach Hyman prepares to return from offseason knee surgery. Tavares (fractured finger) and defenceman Travis Dermott (shoulder surgery) recently returned to active duty.
“Obviously, it’s not something we want to happen,” Tavares said. “He’s such a big part of our team; plays a very significant role and makes great plays. So, not ideal, but I thought the group responded well and had every opportunity to win it.”
Despite challenges at five-on-five, Marner is still averaging a point per game through 18 games this season. He was among the top-20 point-producers in the league when he went down in the second period, and he had threatened once in an otherwise quiet first two periods for the Leafs.
With the Leafs down 1-0 with five minutes to play in the first, Marner nearly tracked down a stretch pass from Jake Muzzin in the offensive zone. Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott skated well north of his blue paint to poke the puck to safety at the last second, sending Marner airborne in the process.
The end of his night began after the faceoff tangle with Twarynski. Marner pushed himself to the bench, where he was helped off the ice by teammates. He tried to play another shift but hit the ice again.
Marner gave it one final try during a timeout. He skated near the door leading to the tunnel while the television audience was away in a commercial. He carved several long C-cuts into the ice but ultimately was not able to return.
“Obviously,” Twarynski said, “it’s not my intention.”
The rookie made the most of his 12 minutes of ice time on Saturday. He had two shots on net and also landed a thundering bodycheck on Morgan Rielly, nearly sending the Leafs defenceman into the Flyers bench.
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Tavares found him with about eight minutes to play in the third period, sending Twarynski down to the ice. The Leafs radio crew wondered on air if it might not have been worthy of a tripping penalty. There was no call on the ice.
“I play hard, and guys are going to play me hard — sh*t like that’s going to happen, pardon my language,” Twarynski said. “I’m not a dirty player, by any means. I like to keep it within the rulebook and play hard and play physical.”
(Photo: Mark Blinch / NHLI via Getty Images)
