Jake McCabe avoided a break in loss to Canadiens and defends Simon Benoit’s start to the season

“Honestly, not that scary. That happens quite a bit, to be honest,” McCabe said of the punch to the face. “Puck lift your stick. My face immediately exploded on this one. They wanted to make sure there’s no fracture, which there isn’t. I got lucky, I guess, with that one.”

McCabe and the Maple Leafs are exuding some positivity as they have fallen to last place in the Eastern Conference with a 9-10-3 record.

“Our record hasn’t been great either. Historically, since I’ve been here, we know we’ve been pretty solid on the road. We’d like to get back to that this trip and that’s why I say this is a good time. All the time with the guys around. You start winning some games, you start feeling good.”

McCabe joked that he wished his face looked much nicer, but said his children are getting used to the battered and bruised look he now has after years of stitches.

“I think he’s been playing really solid all year. A couple of games, I feel like playing at home in St. Louis, I thought we were both skating really well. Two shots to the left allows us to skate a little bit more forward. In technical terms, like surfing the ice and substituting for each other or whatever, to keep having good gaps. We’re both better when we skate, when we’re physical, and the rest of our game takes over after that part starts.”

PRESENTED BY VIVID CHAIRS