Islanders lose Maccelli, Ritchie to injuries in Toronto

Ritchie went first, and it took about 2 minutes. He took a big hit and was gone before most people had found their seats.

Andrew Gross

@AGrossNewsday

Ritchie took a hard check from Blankenburg at 1:52 of the first

Andrew Gross@AGrossNewsday

Looks like #Isles short one on the bench. Cal Ritchie

Ritchie never came back out, and the Isles were a man short on the bench for the rest of the period. Then it got worse. At 16:36 of the first, Maccelli went down deep in the Leafs' zone, and Toronto's Raddysh got 2 minutes for tripping on the play. That was the only good news, because Maccelli did not skate off.

Terry Koshan 🇺🇦

@koshtorontosun

Maccelli can't put weight on left leg as he is helped off the ice. Raddysh two for tripping at 16:36. #Leafs to PK.

He went straight down the tunnel with an arm around each of 2 team staffers. That is never a good sign. It stings even more because of where it happened. Maccelli played in Toronto last season and put up 39 points (14 goals, 25 assists) in 71 games. The Leafs then let him walk, and he signed a 1-year, $2.25 million deal on Long Island on July 1. His first trip back to Scotiabank Arena as an Islander ends in the first period, and that's brutal.

For Patrick Roy's... no, for this lineup, the bigger problem is depth. Maccelli was skating on the top line with Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom tonight, and Ritchie was centering the second line with Brayden Schenn and Victor Eklund. The Isles were already without Mathew Barzal (knee) and Alexander Romanov (torn right ACL). Lose 2 more top-6 forwards and the whole thing gets thin fast, starting with the power play Raddysh's penalty just handed them.

Andrew Gross

@AGrossNewsday

#Isles PP1 without Maccelli Schaefer Holmstrom-Horvat-Schenn Palmieri

So the top unit ran Schaefer up top with Holmstrom, Horvat, Schenn and Palmieri, and the Isles still went into the first intermission ahead. Duclair scored, they outshot Toronto 11-10, and they carried 26 seconds of a second power play into the second period. Nobody on the Islanders side was talking about any of that, though.

Andrew Gross

@AGrossNewsday

End of one #Isles 1 (Duclair) #MapleLeafs 0 Isles up on shots 11-10. Isles have 26 seconds left on their second power play. But all concern is status of Cal Ritchie and Matias Maccelli, both who exited with apparent injuries in first period.

The thing to watch is whether either guy comes out of the tunnel for the 2nd period. Ritchie leaving after a big hit could be a lot of things. Maccelli not being able to put any weight on his left leg could be just one thing, and it's not good. The Isles came into Toronto at 3-3-1 and already missing their best forward. If this turns into a multi-week absence for 2 top-6 guys, the line blender is going to be running for a while, and a team with that little offense can't really afford it.