Mark Masters relayed that Colton Sissons will not return to the Maple Leafs' game because of a lower-body injury, per the team's PR staff.
It happened in Toronto's 4-0 loss to the Devils on Sunday night, the team's third straight defeat. Jim Hiller's group now has to look at its lineup as well as its results.
Masters passed along the team's word that the veteran center is done for the night.
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The post gives no timeline and no diagnosis beyond "lower body." Until the Leafs say more, nobody outside the organization knows whether this is a quick fix or a stretch on the shelf.
We flagged the news right away in Colton Sissons' lower-body injury against the Devils, and the situation hasn't changed since.
Sissons is 33, a second-round pick back in 2012, and he has played all 18 of his team's games so far this season. He has 6 points in those games, 2 of them goals.
He also logged 13:18 on Saturday against Montreal and picked up an assist, so he was playing his normal role right up until the injury.
What losing Sissons does to Toronto's lineup
Toronto sits at 8-9-2 with a goal differential of exactly 0, 64 scored and 64 allowed. That is a team with no margin for error, and a skid like this one makes every lineup hole louder.
A shutout loss at home is the sort of night that exposes a roster. Losing a regular center in the middle of it makes the next call for Hiller harder, because the Leafs have no obvious spare parts to throw at the problem.
Bob's view: a team that was held scoreless and then loses a forward who had played every game cannot lean on lineup tweaks alone. If this drags on, John Chayka's phone gets busy.
The next test comes Tuesday, November 10, when Colorado visits Toronto. Whether Sissons is listed on the injury report that day will tell us a lot about how long this lasts.
Quick hits
NEW JERSEY DEVILS: Rob Reinhart reports that Connor Hellebuyck has requested a trade, per sources. The team hasn't confirmed it. If true, this is a story that won't go quietly.
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CALGARY FLAMES: Matthew Coronato ended it in overtime at the Saddledome, giving the Flames a 4-3 win over the Flyers, per Gino Hard. A big finish for Calgary.
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PITTSBURGH PENGUINS: Dan Kingerski and Josh Yohe report that Arturs Silovs will start in net in Anaheim, per the team. He gets the net again, so the crease belongs to him for now.
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TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING: Brayden Point went down the tunnel late in the first period in Winnipeg. Tampa Bay has not given an update, which is exactly the kind of silence fans hate.
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WASHINGTON CAPITALS: Devils coach Sheldon Keefe says Hellebuyck is expected to play both games against the Capitals when New Jersey gets back. That's a tricky storyline with the trade report floating around.
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