Leafs’ Tavares leaves game with injury

The Toronto Maple Leafs had their first game back at home after a three-game road trip on Thursday. Fans watched the Leafs blow a 4-2 lead to the Buffalo Sabres to suffer a gut-wrenching 5-4 overtime loss, but were subjected to a scarier scene early in the third period.

Leafs forward John Tavares collapsed to the ice after Sabres forward Josh Norris slid into his legs. Tavares stayed down on the ice for some time, and was eventually able to skate off the ice with assistance from defenseman Jake McCabe.

Toronto head coach Jim Hiller did not provide an update on Tavares’ status after the game.

Tavares, 36, found himself in an unfamiliar role on Thursday, as he moved over to left wing from his usual center spot to play on a newly formed second line along with center Nick Paul and right winger Kirill Marchenko. He had notched two assists on the night before suffering the injury. On the season, Tavares has two goals and five assists in seven games.

Last season, the Mississauga native played in all 82 regular season games for Toronto, registering 31 goals and 40 assists to finish second on the team with 71 points.

Selected first overall by the New York Islanders in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Tavares spent his first nine NHL seasons with the Islanders, leading them to the playoffs three times.

In July of 2018, Tavares signed a seven-year, $77 million contract with the Leafs as an unrestricted free agent. He helped the Leafs reach the postseason in each of his first seven seasons in Toronto.

Now in his ninth season with the Leafs, Tavares has 255 goals and 314 assists for 569 points in 603 games played with the franchise. He already ranks 11th in points on the Leafs’ all-time leaderboard.

Toronto will host the Islanders on Saturday before finishing up a three-game home stand against the San Jose Sharks on Monday.