Leafs winger Joffrey Lupul suffers broken forearm, to miss six weeks

Toronto, ON, Canada (4E Sports) – The Toronto Maple Leafs’ huge 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins proved costly as winger Joffrey Lupul suffered a broken forearm and will miss four to six weeks of action.

Lupul, who recently signed a five-year, $26.25 million contract extension, suffered the injury after he was hit by a slap shot from teammate and noted blueline bomber Dion Phaneuf.

“It’s a big loss — can’t really say much more than that,” Phaneuf said. “He’s a huge part of our team up front, and it’s terrible when you lose a guy like that. But we’ve got to come together for him and play for the guys that are here.”

In his first full season with Toronto, Lupul finished with 25 goals, 42 assists a plus-one, 48 penalty minutes, 21 power play points and 191 shots on goal in 66 games.

This season, Lupul was scoreless in three games but the Maple Leafs are off to a 2-1-0 start. In nine seasons, the 29-year-old Lupul has 151 goals and 323 points in 517 games.

The Leafs can call on veteran David Steckel to fill the void left by Lupul but can also call up reinforcements from the Marlies of the American Hockey League.

“It’s real tough, but what do you do?” wing Clarke MacArthur said. “You’ve got to keep going, right? We’re a team in here, and that’s a big bump and a big hole to fill. But we have to do it. We don’t have any other options.”

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