Last night, Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Petr Mrázek was forced to leave the team’s eventual loss to the Ottawa Senators with a confirmed groin injury due to a save in the second period. We don’t know when he’ll be back, but Dr. Harjas Grewal, who tweets about hockey injuries, has a couple suggestions for what the injury timeline might be.

So whether Mrázek is out for days, weeks, or months, the Leafs will need a backup goalie for at least the immediate future. Saturday is Toronto’s re-match with Ottawa at home will likely Leafs Legend Michael Hutchinson once again on the bench in a baseball cap.

The right-glove goalie, who was re-signed by the Leafs to a two-year deal over the summer and passed through waivers during camp, was preparing with the Toronto Marlies for what was hoped to be a much more competitive season for them. Now, it looks like he’s back, back again, on the Leafs.

But that leads to the next question: who are going to be the goalies at Exhibition Place for Saturday’s season opener? With Joseph Woll and Ian Scott both injured for an unknown period of time, it sounds like the Marlies will have to call up Newfoundland Growlers starter Keith Petruzzelli.

Marlies make some interesting cuts as Growlers announce training camp roster

That would then mean the Growlers would only be left with one goaltender, Evan Cormier, whom the Growlers signed to an ECHL deal after joining the Leafs at training camp when Scott and Woll went down. Now, with only one goalie left in Newfoundland, the team will either have to hope one goalie gets healthy between now and October 24th (the season opener) or they’ll have to go find someone in the ECHL or hanging around the island.

This is all part of Hutchinson’s master plan. He is the New Marincin. He will play NHL games for the Leafs every year until the end of time (or until he goes to the Czech league).

Various Leafs and Branches

Game two recap: Maple Leafs try to come back, lose 3-2 to Senators | by: Seldo, who needs to stop covering Leafs vs. Sens games

Game 1 Usage: What can we learn from the coach’s decisions? | by: Katya

Sheldon Keefe Post Game, Senators 3 vs. Leafs 2: “I haven’t seen the memo on not being able to lift guys’ sticks” | by: MLHS

Report: Maple Leafs have highest franchise value in NHL | by: Sportsnet

While we lick our wounds from the 3-2 loss to the Sens, at least we can laugh that the Habs lost 5-1 to the Buffalo Sabres.

This game was almost another blowout at the hands of a terrible team, but the Tampa Bay Lightning battled back from two three-goal deficits to beat the Detroit Red Wings in overtime. I did this recap over at RC so you better like it.

And finally, the Seattle Kraken won their first game in franchise history thanks to an empty-net game-winning goal from Brandon Tanev on the team’s only shot in the third period. That’s how you do it!

From The Branches