Maple Leafs defenseman Marshall Rifai out week-to-week, headed to injured reserve

Marshall Rifai is headed to injured reserve, and the Toronto Maple Leafs lose a defenceman who scored his first NHL goal on Tuesday.

The team confirmed Thursday night that the 28-year-old is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. The timing is brutal, with a four-game road trip opening Saturday in Edmonton.

Rifai left Thursday's morning skate early. He got hurt Tuesday against the Blue Jackets and thought he could skate through it.

That's the cruel part. He'd played two games, scored once, and finally given the Leafs a feel-good depth story.

Rifai only got the call because Chris Tanev went on IR. Tanev isn't expected back until at least Oct. 31, which keeps him out for the first three stops of this trip.

And the dominoes kept falling. Nick Blankenburg went back into the lineup Thursday night against the Rangers, logged 11:27, then left with an unspecified injury.

An update on his status is expected Friday. If he's out too, Toronto's defence starts to look like a carpool where every kid caught the same flu in the same week.

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Ben Danford call-up suddenly makes sense for the Maple Leafs

Jake McCabe at least handed Jim Hiller one piece of good news. Back after needing stitches above his eye, he played 21:03 and fired five shots on goal.

Darren Raddysh carried the heaviest load on the night at 24:17. Troy Stecher chipped in the winner in the 5-4 decision, his only goal of the season so far.

So the Leafs are winning. Three straight, actually, with 14 points banked despite a blue line held together with tape and good intentions.

Morgan Rielly sounded unbothered afterward. “We've kind of played with everyone at this point. So I think we're comfortable with that,” he said.

Comfortable is one word for it. Toronto has allowed 39 goals this season, the kind of number that doesn't shrink when you're shuffling third pairs every night.

Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 of 25 shots against New York. His .895 save percentage won't rescue a short-handed blue line against Connor McDavid.

Which brings us to Ben Danford. The organization's top prospect has three assists in six games with the Marlies this season, and he's 20 years old.

Is it a risk to throw him into a Western road swing? Sure.

But leaning on a patchwork group for four straight road games, with the Leafs sitting at 2-1-1 away from home, is the bigger gamble. Make the call.

With John Tavares out until at least Nov. 27, there's no cavalry coming from the forward group either. How long can a winning streak paper over an injury list this long?

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