Toronto Maple Leafs’ Ryan O’Reilly leaves game with upper-body injury

Toronto Maple Leafs center Ryan O’Reilly exited Saturday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks early with an upper-body injury.

Ryan O'Reilly is the latest Leaf casualty after an upper body second period shot block, not known if he's returning.

— Lance Hornby 🇺🇦 (@sunhornby) March 5, 2023

O’Reilly was hurt in the final minute of the second period when he blocked a shot in the midst of a two-minute shift for the forward. There’s no word on the severity of the injury or if it will require a lengthy recovery.

O’Reilly wasn’t even the first Leaf to leave due to a blocked shot injury on Saturday, as Auston Matthews also missed some time in the first and second period before returning. The Leafs were playing with 11 forwards and 7 defenseman, so that and missing both centers at different points had caused the lines to be a bit hectic, even seeing Matthews play as a winger with O’Reilly when he got hurt so that Matthews could be eased back into the game after his injury scare.

O’Reilly had 11:10 of ice time with a shot, a takeaway, and few faceoff wins when he left the game. The Leafs were down 1-0 when he exited, but a high-scoring third that included two shorthanded Canucks goals on the same penalty kill gave the Canucks a 4-1 win.

O’Reilly’s had a bit of a down season with just 15 goals, 9 assists and 24 points in 47 games, although a lot of the lack of points came down to poor shooting luck from his linemates with the St. Louis Blues despite his passing ability still being at a normal level. That said, he also has three goals, two assists, and five points in eight games with the Leafs.

O’Reilly was a second round pick for the Colorado Avalanche in the 2009 NHL Draft, and had stops with the Buffalo Sabres and the Blues before he was dealt to the Leafs a couple weeks ago as a trade deadline addition to the team. O’Reilly won a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019, also winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs.

O’Reilly is in the final of a seven-year contract with a $7.5 million cap hit, one he originally signed with the Buffalo Sabres, and will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.

The Leafs currently sit in second in the Atlantic Division with a 38-17-8 record. As mentioned before, O’Reilly was one of several additions to the team at the deadline as they look to finally win a playoff series for the first time since 2004, and maybe even win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1967.