The Toronto Maple Leafs were coasting along to potentially a solid win over a divisional rival when disaster struck. Center John Tavares had a horrific collision that caused him to be helped off the ice and head straight down to the tunnel.
In the early moments of the third period, with the Leafs holding a 4-2 lead over the visiting Buffalo Sabres thanks to a Kirill Marchenko hat trick, something awkward and a little scary happened. Nick Paul was trying to cover Sabres center Josh Norris while in the Leafs' own zone, as he was looking for open ice as Buffalo held possession at the blue line. But while thanks to not really doing anything but looking like he pulled Norris down to the ground, the Sabres forward slid across the ice and directly into Tavares.
The awkward collision resulted in Norris taking Tavares off his feet and it certainly looked like the former Leafs captain was taken out at the knee. As we mentioned, he had to be helped off the ice and headed straight down to the tunnel, appearing to be in quite a lot of pain.
John Tavares heads down the tunnel after an awkward collision. pic.twitter.com/4Jn0fGRs1z
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 16, 2026
At the time of writing there is no official update from the team but we have to imagine he won't be returning.
John Tavares' absence could be a major blow for the Leafs
While there are questions surrounding Tavares' viability as the full-time second-line center for this Leafs team if they want to get back into the playoffs and compete with all the big teams of the Eastern Conference, there is no doubting that he has had a solid start to the season. In six games, the 36-year-old has scored two goals and five points while averaging a career-low 17:19 time-on-ice.
He might not be perfect, but he's been putting up enough points to be considered a very good player and will most likely stay around that. Again, not perfect and maybe Gavin McKenna should take his spot on the first power-play unit as soon as possible, but Tavares is an integral part of this team.
Without him, the Leafs are desperate for anyone of note down the middle. Nick Paul and maybe even Easton Cowan would have to be Toronto's centers for the second and third line and while those are two very good players, they aren't the game-breaking talent that Tavares can be, who could score a goal from an improbable scenario just because of how much more talent he has than the players on the other team.
We will have to see of Leafs head coach Jim Hiller has any updates on Tavares' situation after the game. And of course, as soon as Tavares left the ice, the Sabres came storming back to tie up the game 4-4 in the third period.
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