Monster, Mashed! Gustavsson Out 5-7 Days With Groin Pull

(Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images)

After a decent effort against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday Night, Jonas “The Monster” Gustavsson has been placed on injured reserve by the Toronto Maple Leafs with a groin pull and, by all accounts, will be sidelined for 5-7 days.

Gustavsson, who stopped 24 of 26 shots against the Senators, did not experience any pain during the game, but did feel some pain on Wednesday. After having the groin assessed, it was determined that the rookie would be shelved.

For the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans, Gustavsson’s injury pours a little more gasoline on the ever increasing hot goaltending controversy that has been brewing since training camp opened, if not since the time Gustavsson put his signature on his contract.

Veteran NHL goaltender Joey MacDonald, who was signed Leafs general manager Brian Burke as a free agent on August 10th, has been called up from the Leafs AHL affiliate Toronto Marlies and is expected to serve only as a backup to Toskala.

MacDonald has a career NHL record of 17-34-9 with a 3.31 goals against average and a .900 save percentage. MacDonald had a 1-0 record with the Marlies, a 3-2 win against the Hamilton Bulldogs which saw the veteran make 32 saves.

Leafs head coach Ron Wilson stated that he expected to start Toskala the next three games against the New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche and the Rangers again, respectively.

The three starts should shed light on the subject of Toskala’s ability to be the Maple Leafs number one goalie, or lack-thereof.

Stay tuned Leaf fans, why do I feel like this whole goaltending situation is going to get interesting???

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