Dion Phaneuf out a month after scary skate cut

 Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf needed surgery to repair a partially torn MCL which resulted from a skate laceration in last night's 3-2 loss to the Senators. TSN's Darren Dreger reported that doctors had to operate on the deep gash, just above Phaneuf's knee, to see the extent of the damage and found the nicked MCL.

Phaneuf was considered lucky that the deep tissue damage from the skate blade wasn't worse, and the month-long absence is relatively short for such a bad cut.

Not so lucky for the Leafs, who are spiraling downward after a 4-0-0 start, going 1-5-1 in their last seven.