The Maple Leafs suffered a tough loss on Saturday night, their second ugly loss in the span of less than a week, when they took on the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blackhawks lit up Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen for 6 goals, this just 6 days after the Florida Panthers put up 8 on the Maple Leafs, and after the game Maple Leafs head coach called out his players for their "immature" performances in both of those games.
To be fair to the Leafs here they have been playing with a patchwork blue line over those games, a significant factor when you consider that Toronto's defense was already considered to be the roster's most glaring weakness. Although it was a bad night overall for the Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe did have some good news regarding that currently depleted defense following the game. Although nothing was made official, Keefe did hint at a potential return date for veteran defenseman Jake Muzzin. According to Keefe, Muzzin could return to the Maple Leafs' lineup as early as January 27th in Nashville, which would be the first game back from the All Star break for the Maple Leafs.
That is pretty good news when you consider the fact that Muzzin has been out of action since the end of December when he suffered a broken foot during a matchup against the New Jersey Devils. At the time the announcement of Muzzin's injury came as a huge surprise given the fact that he suffered the injury early on in the game, but appeared to be fine and finished out the game for the Leafs. In fact even following the game there were no immediate outward signs that Muzzin was injured as the gritty defenseman walked onto the team bus with his dress shoes, this in spite of his broken foot.
Muzzin was having a pretty solid season for the Leafs prior to his injury, recording 2 goals and 10 assists for 13 points over his 38 appearances in the 2019 - 2020 National Hockey League regular season. He also has 34 penalty minutes on the season and boasts a plus minus rating of +8 thus far.
