Maple Leafs’ Matthew Knies leaves Wednesday’s game vs. Golden Knights with upper-body injury

Toronto Maple Leafs’ forward Matthew Knies left Wednesday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights with an upper-body injury and will not return, the team announced.

The incident occurred almost halfway through the second period when Knies was hit hard in the neutral zone by Golden Knights’ defenceman Zach Whitecloud.

Whitecloud was not penalized for the hit, although he did receive a roughing penalty for his part in the scrum which followed the hit. Maple Leafs’ defenceman Simon Benoit would receive a double-minor for roughing for his part in the scrum, as he challenged Whitecloud after the hit.

Knies made his way to the dressing room immediately after Whitecloud delivered the blow. He’d play 9:28 on the night and was a plus +1 rating, exiting the game with Toronto carrying a 1-0 lead.

The 22-year-old power forward has enjoyed a spike in his ice-time this year, resulting in early signs of a breakout season under new head coach Craig Berube. Heading into action against the Golden Knights, Knies had scored eight goals and 12 points in 19 games.

The 2021 second-round pick is averaging 18:23 of ice-time per game under Berube, almost five minutes more per game than his rookie season playing 80 games for former Maple Leafs’ head coach Sheldon Keefe. Knies is seeing time on both sides of special teams and has become a very integral piece of Toronto’s top six. With the Maple Leafs entering Wednesday’s game with six regular forwards out of the lineup, losing Knies for any period of time will be tough to navigate for Berube and company.

Toronto started game 20 of their season extremely shorthanded up front as Auston Matthews, David Kampf, Max Pacioretty, Calle Jarnkrok, and Max Domi are all out due to various injuries, meanwhile Ryan Reaves was unavailable as he serves the first of his five-game suspension for his illegal check to the head of Edmonton Oilers’ defenceman Darnell Nurse Nov.16.