Matthews Knies Leaves Game After Controversial Hit Reminiscent of Ryan Reaves
During Wednesday's game against the Vegas Golden Knights, Leafs forward Matthew Knies suffered an injury after a big hit from Zach Whitecloud
What started out as a great story for the Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Vegas Golden Knights with Fraser Minten scoring his first career NHL goal, and the NHL debut of Nikita Grebenkin; things were looking great for Toronto.
Heading into the second period with a 1-0 lead, Toronto looked to extend the lead as forward Matthew Knies tried to bring the puck into the offensive zone.
Vegas defender Zach Whitecloud took offense to that and leveled Knies with what initially looked like a clean hit.
However, upon further inspection, it was evident that Whitecloud not only targeted the head but that he left his feet as he was delivering the hit.
It was a brutal hit as Knies immediately fell as both teams got into a scrum.
Toronto defenseman Simon Benoit took exception and throttled Whitecloud before taking him down to the ground.
Knies ended up being checked out on the bench before he headed off to the locker room, thankfully under his own power, to get looked at by trainers.
The most incredible thing about the whole incident is that Whitecloud did not receive a major penalty for that hit where he essentially leaped out of his skates to attack Knies.
It's another piece of evidence that shows the NHL doesn't hold Toronto in high regard.
The Maple Leafs must feel slighted by the fact that Ryan Reaves received a five-game suspension for a hit to the head of Darnell Nurse.
While it could be justified, it did not have the same level of malicious intent as Whitecloud's hit.
It's been a scrappy game to say the least, as there have been numerous times during the game when things got heated, and even the normally calm John Tavares even got into a fracas and landed a solid takedown too.
Knies was officially taken out of the game and did not return, which is a terrible sign for the Maple Leafs dealing with so many injuries to their stars.
It would be a huge blow to the Maple Leafs if he were to miss any time, as not only are they currently dealing with a mountain of injuries to several key players.
Matthew Knies is starting to become a serious star for the Maple Leafs and this would derail everything if he were to miss significant time.
With 12 points in 18 games this season, Knies has been a huge part of Toronto's success without Auston Matthews and has shown fans why Toronto decided to sign him out of the NCAA.
The Toronto Maple Leafs persevered against the Vegas Golden Knights, shutting them out 3-0 thanks to the heroics of Joseph Woll and backed by Fraser Minten's 1st career NHL goal.
