Kirill Marchenko left the Toronto Maple Leafs' 5-2 loss in Calgary on Monday night, and the replay doesn't look kind to his left knee.
Darren McConaghy's breakdown of the play says the mechanism raises concern for an MCL sprain, with the knee appearing to undergo valgus stress as he falls.
The silver lining: his skate wasn't fixed, which McConaghy says may have reduced the rotational forces through the knee.
He tried another shift before leaving for good, finishing with just 7:05 of ice time.
It's like a guy who swears he's fine after missing the bottom step on the stairs. You believe him right up until he tries to stand.
McConaghy also flagged a lower-body injury that cost him time in February, though the location of that one remains unclear.
So what happens to the power play if he's out?
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Maple Leafs face another injury scare as Kirill Marchenko exits in Calgary
The 26-year-old leads the Leafs with 4 power-play goals, one more than anyone else on the roster.
Eight of his 14 points have come with the man advantage.
He'd been heating up, too, with 5 points over his last 5 games.
At $3,850,000, Marchenko has been one of the best bargains on the roster. Nobody else on the depth chart offers that kind of finish at that price.
Toronto shouldn't gamble here. If there's any doubt about that knee, he sits in Seattle.
The Leafs already have John Tavares on IR until at least November 27.
Chris Tanev and Marshall Rifai are both out until at least October 31 as well.
Monday's loss snapped a four-game winning streak. William Nylander and Easton Cowan scored for Toronto.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves on 32 shots in the loss, and the Flames pushed their own streak to four.
At 7-5-2, the Leafs sit third in the Atlantic with 16 points.
They visit Seattle on Wednesday before closing the road trip in Vancouver on Saturday.
Jim Hiller will want an answer before Wednesday's puck drop. Right now, the replay is doing all the talking.
Should the Leafs keep Kirill Marchenko out of the lineup in Seattle?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Sports doctor gives his diagnosis on Kirill Marchenko's ugly fall and injury
