Maple Leafs Forward Exits Game Vs. Lightning; Craig Berube Provides Update
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Pontus Holmberg left Monday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning and coach Craig Berube has given an update on his status.
With the Toronto Maple Leafs winning 5-3 over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night, the team not only solidified their place atop the Atlantic Division but made it three straight regulation wins against their Division rivals.
But beyond the workhorse efforts of the top line, mixed with a solid performance from Joseph Woll, things are pretty swell in blue and white land. However, they didn't leave the game totally unscathed.
Forward Pontus Holmberg unfortunately left the game and did not return as he becomes the latest victim of the Maple Leafs' injury woes.
Holmberg took a nasty spill into the boards after being tripped up by defenseman Emil Lilleberg and left the game.
Craig Berube Gives Update Regarding Pontus Holmberg's Injury Status
It was an unfortunate turn of events for the Maple Leafs as they were just starting to get their players back after dealing with a laundry list of different injuries throughout the season.
However, head coach Craig Berube doesn't seem to be bothered by the fact Holmberg left the game, and is confident his third line depth forward will be alright:
It's not the worst news in the world however it does come with a side of caution. Berube stating his player is fine, or day-to-day often spells disaster and ends up with them missing potentially weeks of the season.
Holmberg for his career has been relatively healthy, and only missed a couple of games due to illness, but nothing serious that has kept him out for an extended period of time.
Holmberg, 25, is having a bit of a slower season offensively with two goals and five assists, but has added 29 blocks and winning his faceoffs at a near 49% clip.
If he were to miss any time, it would be a huge loss to Toronto's center depth as John Tavares is still nursing a leg injury after being injured during a practice drill, and there's no definitive timeline for his return.
Toronto will need to rely on Fraser Minten and Max Domi to weather the second and third line pivot positions, however there is the potential David Kampf moves up and there could be a Steven Lorentz sighting down the middle at times.
It's going to be tough if Holmberg misses time, but Toronto has weathered worse storms in the past and come out on top, and may need to do so once again.
