John Tavares officially injured after a dirty hit from Michael Pezzetta during last night's preseason game

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Julien Trekker
September 27, 2024 (2:24 PM)

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The former Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares was officially injured after a dirty hit from Michael Pezzetta during last night's preseason game.

With the Montreal Canadiens in town, fans were eagerly waiting to see a physical game in Toronto last night. The Leafs ended up winning 2-1 but lost two players to injuries: William Nylander and John Tavares.

Nylander was taken out of the game by his own teammate. When Nick Robertson gave him a boost during his backcheck, Nylander fell and collided head first with Habs' Christian Dvorak.

Leafs fans can breathe a sigh of relief as Nylander was back on the ice today for the Leafs' practice.

However, John Tavares wasn't on the ice.

Last night, he took a hit from Michael Pezzetta early in the game and seemed bothered by something, but stayed on the bench. He ended up scoring a goal and spent over 12 minutes on the ice.

Check out the hit here:

And here's the goal, with a great assist from Mitch Marner:

This morning, we learned that Tavares is now considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The Leafs announced that Calle Jarnkrok and Alex Steeves also missed practice and are listed day-to-day with lower-body injuries.

This preseason is turning out to be a tough one for the Maple Leafs. Auston Matthews was also injured during a practice, Ben Danford has a concussion, and Fraser Minten could miss months with a high ankle sprain.�

Last season, they had to deal with a lot of injuries in Toronto, but were lucky enough to see most of them return in time for the playoffs. Leafs fans hope that the players can stay healthy this year and have a great season.

Tavares, 34, will be a free agent next season, and it'll be interesting to see what his next contract will look like.