The Toronto Maple Leafs, who have been anything but fully healthy this season, may have just lost another key piece of their lineup during Thursday evening’s game on home ice against the visiting San Jose Sharks at Scotiabank Arena.
Defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson got tangled up behind the Toronto net with Sharks right-wing forward Adam Gaudette and fell to the ice, and wasn’t able to get back up under his own power.
Replays showed that Ekman-Larsson’s ankle twisted at an odd angle, and he would require assistance from his teammates to make it back to the bench. The incident took place in the third period of what was ultimately a 3-2 Sharks victory in overtime, and he did not return to the game.
According to the latest update from head coach Craig Berube on Ekman-Larsson’s condition, the Swedish defenseman will need to be re-evaluated tomorrow while noting that he’s played ‘great’ hockey for them so far in 2025-26.
“Lower body, got to be re-evaluated tomorrow and we’ll know exactly the length of it,” Berube said. “He’s been great. He’ll be missed. Hopefully it’s not too bad. He’s played great hockey for us.”
Oliver Ekman-Larsson is playing in his second season with the Toronto Maple Leafs
Ekman-Larsson is skating in his second season with the Maple Leafs after he was signed just weeks after he helped the Florida Panthers win the first of what would be two consecutive Stanley Cup championships.
He’s currently ranked fourth overall on the team behind Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, and team captain Auston Matthews in total ice time per game at 20:56. He’s tallied four goals with 16 assists in the 29 games he’s played in, along with a plus-seven rating.
The Sharks defeated the Maple Leafs by a 3-2 score in overtime in Toronto
The Sharks mounted a comeback effort against the Maple Leafs, who led by a 2-0 score, to score three straight unanswered tallies and grab the extra point in overtime.
With the setback, the Maple Leafs fell to 14-11-5, while the Sharks improved to 15-14-3 and moved into one of the two Wild Card playoff spots in the Western Conference standings.
It was the Maple Leafs who found the back of the net first with just over five minutes remaining in the first period, as first-year Maple Leafs forward Dakota Joshua notched his fifth goal of the season.
Toronto then increased their lead to 2-0 after Matthews scored on the power-play, his 13th goal of the season. But just 59 seconds later, veteran Sharks defenseman Dmitry Orlov, playing in his first campaign with San Jose after signing a free-agent deal over the offseason, scored his first goal to cut the deficit in half.
San Jose then continued their strong push in the third period, knotting the score late thanks to a goal with 1:25 late in regulation thanks to former Leafs defenseman John Klingberg.
In overtime, it was Alexander Wennberg who delivered the knockout blow for the Sharks, scoring his seventh goal of the season to give San Jose the win.
Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic made 28 saves in a winning effort, while Dennis Hildeby countered with 29 saves for the Leafs.
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