Breaking: Lingering injury comes back to haunt Jake Gardiner.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have reportedly been on the receiving end of some bad news.

According to a report from Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman it sounds like veteran Maple Leafs defenseman Jake Gardiner will not play tonight when his Maple Leafs face off against the Arizona Coyotes. Even more concerning for the Leafs however is that according to Friedman this appears to be the result of a linger injury, one that Gardiner has reportedly been dealing with since all the way back in December. 

Gardiner apparently suffered the initial injury around Christmas time and although it initially looked as though he had made a full recovery there has now been what Friedman described as a "flare up." It's going to be enough to keep Gardiner out for at least one game but the real concern now has to be regarding how much time it will take him to fully heal from this seemingly long lasting injury. 

Gardiner has reportedly been suffering back spams as the result of his injured back and back injuries are always an extremely tricky situation.

[pub]