Maple Leafs Reveal the Truth Behind Chris Tanev's Health Status Following Game 3

Last night's loss to the Florida Panthers has narrowed the Maple Leafs' series lead to just 1 game. Now up 2-1 with possibly 4 games remaining, the margin for error is now very small.

During the Game 3 defeat, Leafs fans held their collective breath when top defenseman Chris Tanev left the game after taking an awkward hit, which can be seen below.

At the time, there wasn't much information available, but thankfully, when Tanev returned, it became a whole lot easier for everyone to breathe.

Following the loss, Leafs coach Craig Berube told the media that Tanev's absence from the game was not actually injury-related, which was quite a relief to hear.

The Leafs have leaned heavily on Tanev this season, not only to lay his body on the line the way that he has all season long, but also for his veteran leadership and overall toughness. Tanev has reportedly taken more hits than any other player in these playoffs.

Tanev is admired by each of his Leafs teammates, but perhaps none more so than Simon Benoit, who actually called Tanev arguably the toughest defenseman he's ever had the honour of playing with.

With Tanev escaping an injury during Game 3, we now look ahead to Game 4, where the Leafs will have a premium opportunity to go up 3-1 in the series and set up an attempt to close things out on Wednesday back in Toronto.